Former Aston Villa captain Gareth Southgate was disappointed with Gerard Houllier's weakened selection for their FA Cup defeat to Manchester City.
Southgate feels Villa had no need to be so concerned about being involved in a relegation battle.
Southgate, now working as a pundit for ITV, said: "I was really surprised with the Villa side.
"Darren Bent was cup-tied but I was really looking forward to seeing Young and Downing who have been so in form for them.
"But Houllier completely shuffled the pack. There were five players who were 21 or under.
"It was a statement of intent but I'm not quite sure what the intent was.
"It seems to me as if he was saying 'we've got a problem in the league, we're only four or five points outside the relegation zone' and that is his priority.
"But I don't think Villa are relegation candidates at all. He didn't need to worry about that."
