Aston Villa travel to face Crystal Palace on the final day of the Premier League season on Sunday.
Unai Emery can relax, safe in the knowledge that his side have secured Champions League football in advance of a difficult away game against a Palace side reborn under Oliver Glasner.
It has been an amazing week for everyone associated with the club, with Monday’s dramatic late comeback to draw 3-3 with Liverpool followed by a top four spot being guaranteed as Tottenham Hotspur lost 24 hours later.
Such is the perfectionist Emery is, he will want to end the season with a win that would see the club complete a league double over Palace.
However, given his fatigued squad and the fact they have already wrapped up Champions League football, perhaps the Spaniard could be minded to hand some of his young talents an opportunity.
With that in mind, here are three Aston Villa academy players who could feature against Palace.
Unai Emery could play Kadan Young against Crystal Palace
The first of those players is 18-year-old winger Kadan Young.
Young is yet to make a competitive appearance for Villa’s senior side and Palace on Sunday could represent the perfect opportunity to change that.
Young was named on the bench against Olympiacos in the Europa Conference League semi-final but did not come on.
The youngster prefers to play from the left, but can also play as a striker or right winger and has already proven himself to have the ability to make an impact against Premier League opposition, starring against Chelsea in a warm weather training camp in 2022.
One of Young’s former coaches has likened the talent to none other than Kylian Mbappe, saying: “He’s so quick and an out-and-out winger which you don’t see enough of nowadays.”
“He’s got that Mbappe about him, where he’ll run, slow his man down, wanting the defender to stand still almost, then he’ll put the burners on.”
With a number of Villa’s attacking players looking fatigued in recent weeks, Young will be hoping Emery gives him a chance.
Kaine Kesler-Hayden could step into Villa problem position
Villa have had issues at right-back recently.
Due to injuries, Matty Cash has had to play more advanced; either as a right midfielder or wing-back.
Cash has struggled, and so too has Ezri Konsa with a couple of poor performances recently when he is usually so assured steeping across to the right.
Therefore, the game against Palace could see youth right-back Kaine Kesler-Hayden make his fifth senior appearance for the club.
With the position up for grabs, Emery could benefit from seeing how the 21-year-old fairs when starting against strong opposition.
If he impresses, the full-back could save Villa a lot of money in the summer.
Omari Kellyman knows where the goal is
The final player who could get minutes against Palace is Omari Kellyman.
The 18-year-old is an exciting talent who has an impressive return of seven goals in 11 Premier League 2 games this season, despite being three years younger than the 21-year-old cut-off.
Villa paid around £500k to Derby County to sign Kellyman in 2022, highlighting just how highly they rate the England under-19 international.
The striker does already have one 90 minutes to his name for the first-team this season, playing the entirety of the 3-0 win over Hibernian in the second leg of the Europa Conference League qualifier and even providing an assist that night.
He may not start with Ollie Watkins desperate to score his 20th league goal of the campaign, but Kellyman could make a cameo off the bench.
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