Is it time to blood some more youngsters?

With the return of Eirik Bakke to Leeds and the constant threat of injuries on our poor pitch, is now about the right time to blood some youngsters?

With Craig Gardner finding the bench in recent games, it should be time he is given his chance.

If he is what his reputation suggests, then he is better than and will work superbly with Steven Davis.

Gardner is a hard-working box-to-box player with good vision and great passing skills. He has a good physical build and a very clever head on him.

Gardner could be the player we need to fill the gaps in midfield (ie when O'Leary wants to play a 4-5-1 at home to Sunderland or McCann gets injured).

Meanwhile, Peter Whittingham appears to have disappeared off the Villa Park radar despite showing so much promise over the last couple of seasons.

Jamie Ward is doing well in the reserves as is Shane Paul, although he's only just returned from injury.

If we can't buy then we need to use what we've got. We have a great youth academy at Villa and it's about time we utilised it.