Only Kieran Trippier has earned more bonus points among defenders than underrated Dream Team gem Ezri Konsa

ASTON VILLA fans have felt Ezri Konsa (£3m) is worthy of a place in the England squad for a long while now.

And they may have a point.

The 26-year-old has been in excellent form again this season and it’s not only Gareth Southgate who is guilty of underrating the reliable defender.

With an ownership of just 1.8%, the overwhelming majority of Dream Team managers have overlooked Konsa as well – perhaps to their detriment.

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Dream TeamWhat more does he have to do?[/caption]

The ex-Brentford centre-back is joint-eighth among defenders in the rankings right now having collected 55 points in total.

To put that into perspective, he’s just seven points behind Matty Cash (£3.2m), who is one of the most-selected players in the game with an ownership of 23.8%.

Konsa has contributed to three clean sheets and he registered an assist against West Ham at the weekend but the secret to his success is his ability to earn bonus points, 17 of them to be precise.

In fact, only Kieran Trippier (£5.6m) has amassed more bonus points (18) among defenders this season than the Villa fan favourite.

And the pair are in a league of their own in this regard as the next-best defender is Antonee Robinson (£2.3m), who has pocketed 11 bonus points.

In the context of all players, only James Ward-Prowse (£4.3m), James Maddison (£4.3m) and Eberechi Eze (£3.6m) are above Trippier and Konsa when ranking all assets by bonus points.

A class actGetty

The latter ranks highly in his position for fouls won, pass completion and blocks, a reflection of the all-round game praised by the Villa Park faithful.

Both Pau Torres (£2.8m) and Lucas Digne (£2.6m) are more than twice as popular as Konsa in Dream Team and so gaffers would do well to make sure they’re backing the optimum Villa defenders.

It’s a good time to employ such a strategy too.

Unai Emery’s side face Luton, Nottingham Forest and Fulham in their next three league games around two Europa Conference League meetings with AZ Alkmaar.

The Villains are the Premier League’s second-top scorers in 2023/24 and are just one point off the top four after their impressive 4-1 win over the Hammers on Sunday.