Aston Villa manager Remi Garde has said that winger Adama Traore is too "inconsistent" to earn a regular starting place with the Premier League strugglers.

The 19-year-old moved to the Midlands from Barcelona over the summer but has been restricted to just a handful of league appearances, all as a substitute.

"He is inconsistent in his game," Garde told the Birmingham Mail. "You cannot have a player except for maybe Messi who can walk on the pitch and only play when his team has the ball. Nobody can do that.

"If you are not doing well especially in the situation where we are, it's quite a problem. We need hard workers. I don't mean Adama is not a hard worker but he is young and inconsistent and he needs to work. Adama needs to work like every player."

Villa, who sit at the bottom of the league with just six points, next visit a resurgent Newcastle United in Saturday's late kickoff.