Unai Emery praised the impact of Matty Cash after his brace against Burnley at Turf Moor on Sunday.
The head coach deployed the Polish international in a more advanced role on the right-hand side and was rewarded with his first goals for Aston Villa since May last year.
Cash showed his attacking qualities regularly for Nottingham Forest before joining Villa, and Emery knows he can contribute at both ends of the pitch.
“Matty Cash is versatile. He’s played before as a winger,” he said.
“He is playing with us in a back four, sometimes lower, but sometimes we have used him like against Brentford in pre-season when he scored playing higher as a winger.
“He helped us a lot today defensively, and then offensively he used his moments to remember the times he played as a winger in Nottingham Forest.
“His two goals were a good example for us, but we know he can play there.”
Moussa Diaby was the other Villan on the scoresheet as the team picked up a third consecutive win, netting his second of the season.
His summer signing’s fast start to life in England has been another pleasing aspect of Villa’s opening four matches of the season for Emery.
He said: “Moussa’s adaptation is going fast but he needs this adaptation.
“Each match for him, to know his teammates better, is very important. He is a player being versatile for us and I’m going to use him for the next matches and over the season in different positions.
“It’s very important for him and the team his capacity to assist and score goals. His qualities are adding to us being stronger in our squad.”
