Aston Villa’s forgotten man Micah Richards makes appearance but is not the answer

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Aston Villa fans were left in shock yesterday when Micah Richards actually played a game of football. The injury-prone former England international featured in Stiliyan Petrov and James Milner’s charity match in Glasgow.

The last time Richards played for Aston Villa was in October 2016, when he faced of with Wolves in a 1-1 draw.

Steve Bruce has clearly cast him aside, along with fellow outcast Ross McCormack. Despite not playing a game of football in nearly two years, Aston Villa are paying Richards £35,000-a-week, according to the Daily Mail.

Seeing Richards feature in a game of football certainly had some Aston Villa fans talking. A quick peruse of Twitter even sees some fans suggesting a first-team chance for Richards.

Aston Villa are short at centre-back. Mile Jedinak has struggled in the position and there was talk of bringing back John Terry. The Chelsea legend appears to be off to Russia, leaving Aston Villa in a tight spot.

However, it would seem highly unlikely that Bruce will perform such a dramatic u-turn with Richards.

Times are hard at the back for Aston Villa. But Richards is out of match practice and something of a liability at centre-back at the best of times.

Aston Villa have certainly dug themselves a hole with their defensive business. However, Richards is not the man to dig them out.