Danny Ings may drop out of the starting line-up for Aston Villa's clash with Everton on Saturday evening, Birmingham Live journalist Ashley Preece has said. 

The lowdown

The 29-year-old has started all four of Villa's Premier League matches since his £25m move from Southampton, playing all but 21 minutes.

He has two goals to his name so far, having netted in the opening day defeat at Watford and in the win over Newcastle, while he lined up alongside Ollie Watkins in a 5-3-2 formation away to Chelsea last time out as Dean Smith went with two starting centre-forwards for the first time this season.

Villa are looking to return to winning ways following a 3-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge, but they face a stern test from an unbeaten Everton side with 10 points on the board from their first four games.

The latest

In a fan Q&A for Birmingham Live on Friday, Preece said that Aston Villa manager Smith will tweak his line-up today 'as he sees fit'.

Ings 'could well come out' of the starting XI for the visit of the Toffees to Villa Park, with the journalist predicting plenty of tactical and personnel alternations over the course of the campaign given the depth of options available to him.

Preece replied to a supporter's query by saying: "Dean will tweak as he sees fit [sic]. Ings could well come out tomorrow. I think we'll see a lot of change in terms of shape and personnel this season which will be refreshing. Will it work? We'll wait and see. A lot more options now."

The verdict

If Smith is looking to give Ings a rest, perhaps it would be wiser to do so in midweek when Villa face Chelsea once again, this time in the Carabao Cup.

Villa supporters may want a cup run similar to two seasons ago, but that game remains a better rotation opportunity for a player as prolific as the 29-year-old.

Going forward, it will be interesting to see if Smith settles on a system which can incorporate both of his two main strikers or whether they'll largely battle it out for one spot in the starting line-up.

In other news, Villa have been linked with this Championship ace.