AXE FALLS ON DANNY AS VILLA GET TOUGH

DANNY DRINKWATER has been ordered to add graft to his craft.

The on-loan Chelsea midfielder (above) has been dragged off in each of his four appearances for Aston Villa and is averaging just 66 minutes on the pitch.

And the 29-year-old is facing the axe for today’s clash at Southampton, with Marvelous Nakamba ready to replace him alongside Douglas Luiz.

Villa boss Dean Smith (right) said: “Danny’s passing completion stats last week against Tottenham were 91 per cent, and probably the most forward passes in a game as well, so he was a big part of our build-up.

“Where he’s working to get better is without the ball. We know what he can do passing forwards, but now it’s down to the other lads. If they replace him, it’s down to them to keep the shirt off him.

“There’s certainly more to come from Danny and he’s getting to where we want him to be. But that takes time when you haven’t played an awful lot of games.”

Prior to his arrival at Villa, Drinkwater had played just 59 minutes in the Premier League this season – in December, on loan at Burnley.

“If Marvelous and Douglas had played really well at Bournemouth, Danny would not have got back in,” said the Villa chief.

“But they didn’t play well and I thought Danny should come back in last week.”

Southampton have the worst home record in the Premier League, with eight defeats in 13 at St Mary’s. And Villa can pull to within three points of them with a win today.

Smith added: “Their head coach said it has been tough for them to play at home.

“There has been an awful lot of pressure on them, and in the first 15 minutes of games there is an expectation on them, and maybe the players have not handled that as well as they could have.

“Their home record has not been great and hopefully that’s something we can play on. We have to be on top of that and make sure we take advantage.

“We have to make sure we put that pressure on Southampton and their supporters, to try and get them against their team.”