Express & Star

Orjan Nyland: No more sluggish starts for Aston Villa

Goalkeeper Orjan Nyland admits Villa will need to come flying out of the blocks when they resume their Premier League campaign later this month.

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Villa do not return to action until they host Newcastle on November 25, when they will look to bounce back from Sunday’s 2-1 defeat at Wolves.

Nyland acknowledged Dean Smith’s men paid the price for a sluggish start at Molineux which handed the hosts the initiative.

He said: “The rest of the season we have to make sure we start bright, right from the kick-off and not give the opposition goals and the advantage. On Sunday, we started the game too late.

“We all agreed at half-time we needed to go out and show a better side than we did that in the first-half.

“I think we did that and we can definitely take that with us into the next couple of games.”

Norwegian international Nyland, who made his Premier League debut when he replaced the injured Jed Steer after just eight minutes at Molineux, is poised for a greater involvement in Villa’s season.

Steer was due to see a specialist yesterday to determine the extent of his injury but is expected to spend an extended spell on the sidelines.

That will see Nyland, who missed the second half of last season after rupturing his Achilles, promoted to No.2 behind England international Tom Heaton.

The latter missed the defeat at Wolves with a calf problem and later withdrew from international duty, though he is expected to return for the match with Newcastle.