Ally McCoist believes Aston Villa should prioritise the Premier League and field a weakened team in Tuesday’s Carabao Cup quarter-final clash against Liverpool.
Dean Smith’s side will face a young and inexperienced Reds team in the Villa Park clash – LIVE ON talkSPORT – as Jurgen Klopp has taken the majority of his first-team squad out to Qatar for the FIFA Club World Cup.
Some of the club’s youngsters who were expected to play against Villa were taken to the Middle East, including 18-year-old midfielder and U23s captain Curtis Jones and right-back Neco Williams, which means the Liverpool team led by U23s boss Neil Critchley will be even more under-strength than first thought.
The Villans are therefore huge favourites to progress to the last-four and reach their first major semi-final since they were FA Cup runners-up in the 2015/16 season.
But with their next four league games all coming against relegation rivals, Southampon, Norwich, Watford and Burnley, McCoist believes Smith should be cautious about playing his top stars.
Villa currently sit 17th in the league table and are only above the relegation zone on goal difference.
Speaking ahead of the talkSPORT’s live commentary game, McCoist said: “It’s as good an opportunity Villa will get [to win a cup] in a long time, but the league is the priority.
“If Villa were sitting further up the table in relative safety, I would without a doubt play a strong side to win the game.
“But financially everything would tell you Villa’s priority must be to remain in the Premier League and you’ve got to gear everything towards that.
“What if you played Jack Grealish against Liverpool, he gets injured against and then misses those vital games?”
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However, Sports Breakfast host Alan Brazil disagreed and argued: “If Villa get into the semi-final, Villa at Wembley, it would give the team a boost!”
And McCoist replied: “There’s no argument about that, you’re absolutely correct, but what is Dean Smith’s priority?
“I’m desperate for Villa to stay up, but it’s not guaranteed.
“I would leave Grealish out. If it means they’ve got a better chance of winning their upcoming league fixtures, I think they should.”