---
title: "Frederic Guilbert trains for pre-season friendly, wishes teammate happy birthday"
canonical: "https://readastonvilla.com/2021/07/21/frederic-guilbert-trains-aston-villa-pre-season-friendly-wishes-lucas-digne-happy-birthday/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Crippy Cooke"
section: "Aston Villa News"
published: "2021-07-21T09:50:40Z"
modified: "2021-07-21T09:50:41Z"
---

# Frederic Guilbert trains for pre-season friendly, wishes teammate happy birthday

Frederic Guilbert is fighting for his place at Aston Villa this campaign. The 26-year-old spent the second half of last season out on loan and now finds himself behind Matty Cash in the pecking order.

Guilbert has put up pictures on [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/fredguilbert02/)of himself in pre-season training at Bodymoor Heath, but he’s now preparing for Villa’s first friendly game with Walsall and will hope to impress.

The uncapped Frenchman posted a snap on his [Instagram story](https://www.instagram.com/stories/fredguilbert02/2622143873520847970/) with his teammates, saying he was looking forward to the upcoming exhibition match, and then he wished fellow Frenchman Lucas Digne a happy birthday – the Everton defender turned 28 on Tuesday.

![](https://media.readastonvilla.com/readastonvilla/2021/07/Frederic-Guilbert-social-media4.png)

Guilbert has made [31 appearances](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/frederic-guilbert/leistungsdatenverein/spieler/354352) in all competitions since [joining](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/frederic-guilbert/transfers/spieler/354352) Villa from SM Caen in January 2019, scoring two goals with two assists. The 26-year-old will be a squad player after Ahmed Elmohamady’s departure, but it’s hard to see him dethroning Cash just yet.

If Guilbert can impress in pre-season by putting in brilliant performances in the friendlies, he’ll give himself the best chance of getting first-team football. His latest post shows he’s looking forward to the challenge.

***[In other news, Douglas Luiz posts training picture and throwback snap with teammates](https://readastonvilla.com/2021/07/21/douglas-luiz-posts-aston-villa-training-picture-throwback-with-brazilian-teammates/)***