Ayew wipes the smile off England new boy’s face
THERE must be some top-class pranksters in the world of football. It seems every time a player receives their first England call-up, notified by text message or phone call, they automatically assume it’s one of their fellow pros winding them up. Tyrone Mings was no exception when his phone buzzed last week. ‘I got a text from the England player liaison officer, Emily,’ said the Aston Villa centre half. ‘I texted back saying “Oh s***”. She then called me and said: “I’m not joking”. It was only when I spoke to her that I knew she was being serious.’ Mings’s reaction is a reflection of just how far he has come in football and in life. The 26-year-old lived for a time in a homeless shelter while at primary school and spent his teenage years pulling pints in a Chippenham pub before working as a mortgage adviser. Mings was released by Southampton when 16 and has worked his way up from non-League, playing for Yate Town and Chippenham before being spotted by Ipswich. At Bournemouth, Mings made only 10 Premier League starts in four seasons, suffering horrendous knee ligament and back injuries. It’s only since joining Villa on loan in January that he has appeared on Gareth Southgate’s England radar. But football has a habit of bringing you back down to earth and, after last week’s call-up, Mings endured a tough afternoon at Crystal Palace. Jordan Ayew (below) brushed him aside to score the decisive goal, though the defender was thrown off balance by a ricochet off Jack Grealish and stuck out an arm to try to halt the Palace striker. Mings did, however, win plenty of aerial battles at Selhurst Park as Palace laid siege following Trezeguet’s sending off. Villa’s 10 men might have snatched an undeserved point had Grealish not been bizarrely punished for diving while setting up Henri Lansbury for what looked like a 96th-minute equaliser. One player who did burnish his England credentials with a string of saves was Villa keeper Tom Heaton. He can see himself playing alongside Mings for club and country. ‘Tyrone has been absolutely outstanding,’ Heaton said. ‘Gareth has shown that if you are performing in the Premier League you will get your chance. This is another marker for that.’ That’s if Southgate can convince them it isn’t a wind-up.
CRYSTAL PALACE (4-4-2): Guaita 6; Ward 6.5, Kelly 6.5 (Sakho 79min), Cahill 6.5, Van Aanholt 6.5; McArthur 7, Kouyate 7, Milivojevic 7.5, SCHLUPP 8 (Townsend 84); Zaha 6.5, Ayew 7.5 (Benteke 86). Subs not used: Hennessey, McCarthy, Meyer, Camarasa.
Manager: Roy Hodgson 7. Scorer: Ayew 73. Booked: Milivojevic, Kouyate.
ASTON VILLA (4-1-4-1): Heaton 7.5; Guilbert 6, Engels 6, Mings 6.5, Taylor 6; Douglas Luiz 5 (Hourihane 71, 6); McGinn 5, Grealish 5, Jota 6 (Davis 59, 5), Trezeguet 4; Wesley 5 (Lansbury 85). Subs
not used: Steer, Konsa, El Ghazi, Elmohamady, Davis.
Manager: Dean Smith 6. Booked: Douglas Luiz, Taylor, Guilbert, Trezeguet, Grealish. Sent off: Trezeguet 54. Referee: Kevin Friend 5.
Attendance: 25,248.