Aston Villa face Wigan in the second round of the EFL Cup on Tuesday evening.
Villa got back to winning ways on Saturday with a 4-2 victory over Norwich City at Villa Park, and they will be hoping that they can make it two wins on the bounce, and progress to the next round.
In the first round of this cup, they travelled down to Essex, and managed to see off a determined Colchester side 2-1. Many Villa fans would have expected a bigger score line, but credit has to be given to Colchester for battling it out and making it hard for the visitors in appalling weather conditions.
Wigan have started life in league one with 3 wins from 3 games, but Villa, despite the numerous changes that Bruce is likely to make, should still have enough to see beat them and get through to round three.
Here is our predicted XI for Tuesday’s game against Wigan:
ST: Keinan Davis
Had a fantastic senior debut on Saturday, and should be rewarded with another start here.
LM: Andre Green
Has put in a few great performances recently, and got his first senior goal for the club on Saturday. We reckon he will be given a chance to add to his tally on Tuesday evening.
CM: Callum O'Hare
Had a very decent game against Colchester in round one, and we expect to see him back in the side for this one.
CM: Henri Lansbury
Glenn Whelan should be given a rest for this one, and we reckon Lansbury will take his place.
CM: Conor Hourihane
He is on fire at the moment, and we reckon Bruce will give him another chance to shine on Tuesday evening,
RM: Ahmed Elmohamady
Hasn’t had quite the impact that Bruce and the fans would have expected, so we reckon he will be given more time to gel with his new team mates on Tuesday.
LB: Neil Taylor
Since Amavi left, Villa are also light in this position, so we reckon Taylor will play this game too. However, Bruce might also decide to play Bjarnason here instead.
CB: James Chester
With John Terry being given a rest, Chester will have to play this one, since Villa are light on center-backs now.
CB: Christopher Samba
We reckon, just like with the last cup game, that Terry will be given a rest, and Samba will play in his stead.
RB: Ritchie de Laet
He needs game time, and we reckon Bruce will give him the full 90 minutes here to prove his fitness.
GK: Jed Steer
Is Villa’s number one keeper for cup games, so he will play in this one.