Until Saturday, Villa had put out the same eleven for every game this season and Martin O’Neill was every fantasy managers favourite Premiership boss as a result. Then, out of nowhere, he goes and drops Luke Young and Nicky Shorey against Portsmouth.

Earlier today, some explanation for his decision emerged from Villa Park – although, I’ve got to admit, I’m struggling to make sense of it.

The Villa boss handed starts to new signings Cuellar and Milner, with both Young and Shorey making way. Barry was shifted to left back to accommodate Milner in midfield, while Cuellar was played out of position at right back. While he had a decent game, and Villa kept just their second clean sheet of the season in the process, they had the woodwork to thank and had just two efforts on target at the other end without Barry’s prompting. Some Villa fans felt he got it wrong but it’s not them worried by the decision.

Luke Young is a popular fantasy signing in the Fantasy Premier League thanks to his Boro pricing of 4.5 – he is currently owned by 9% of managers. They will be concerned about Saturday’s rotation and O’Neill’s explanation for the decision is not likely to offer much reassurance.

“I left out Luke Young and Nicky Shorey, but there is nothing fantastic to read into it,” claimed O’Neill.

“I was concerned, as a lot of managers, about how the players would be like when they came back from international duty”.

Fair enough Martin, but then neither Luke Young or Shorey were in international action in the week, whereas Milner played for England’s U21’s on the Tuesday. Confused? Me too.

He goes on to use Carew and Petrov as examples of players he was worried about – again puzzling. His comments smack of a manager at a loss to offer a decent reason behind his decision, other than to come out and say that he needed to give Milner and Cuellar a game.

That would be fair enough to be honest. Both players have been waiting patiently for a chance and both cost a large amount of money – almost £20 million in total. You’ve got to wonder if O’Neill feels under pressure to play the pair, given the fee’s involved. Finding a place for them however, looks difficult.

Given the speculation surrounding Barry’s future in pre-season, he must surely be untouchable. Petrov has been outstanding and is an O’Neill favourite, while Reo-Coker is also enjoying a superb season and gets through a lot of work. As for Ashley Young – again untouchable. That leaves very little room for Milner, unless Barry takes up the left back spot.

As for Cuellar – his position is centre back but O’Neill has shown a reluctance to drop Davies by his decision on Saturday. That’s understandable given Davies’ performances thus far, but then it’s a strange decision to hand a player his debut in front of his new supporters and ask him to play out of position against the blooming talent of Armand Traore.

Only O’Neill really knows the answer behind it all and he has at least offered both Young and Shorey reassurance…

“I have been pleased with both full-backs. They are trying to get to grips. They have had no chance whatsoever to settle in. But overall they will be fine, the two lads. There is not a problem.”

Will he restore them to the side for Thursday’s UEFA Cup tie with Ajax? I’m guessing he will. Whether they keep their places for the tricky trip to Wigan, is another matter.

O’Neill is not only a great manager (let’s get that clear), he used to be the easiest Premiership boss to read in terms of team selection. He’s thrown us all a curveball with this one though and well over a thousand FPL managers have already got shot of Luke Young as a result.

It’s not just Young and Shorey owners who need to be on their toes. With Sidwell also waiting in the wings – wholesale rotation could be on the cards from this point. We also have to consider the effect of any upheaval on the likes of Carew and Ashely Young – they have been trundling along rather nicely to this point. Two shots on target is not going to help their fantasy output though and with some kind fixtures coming up, I’m banking on big attacking returns from Villa. O’Neill might need to restore a steady ship to deliver that.

Suddenly, our Mr Dependable needs watching.