Cash made the headlines for the wrong reasons this week when it emerged that his strong tackle on Doherty in Villa’s 4-0 defeat against Tottenham at Villa Park resulted in the Irishman suffering a season ending injury.
With Antonio Conte losing one of his key players during the business end of the season, some sections of Spurs fans has accused Gerrard of asking his team to be extra aggressive in the weekend’s clash.
However, former top flight star Barnes has defended Gerrard and stressed he is not a manager that sets up his team to hurt their opponents.
Barnes explained that Gerrard wants his team to be competitive, physical and strong, and stressed Doherty’s injury setback is just part of the game.
“Steven Gerrard doesn’t set his teams up to injure players, they go to compete – when players get injured it’s unfortunate”, Barnes told Bonus Code Bets.
“Matty Cash didn’t mean to injure Matt Doherty; these things just happen in football.
“If we’re talking about what happened in my day, or earlier, those things were terrible, but those days are gone.
“Fans want their teams to be physical and Steven Gerrard is telling his players to be physical, strong and intense.
“This has just been blown way out of proportion, Gerrard doesn’t set his team out to hurt people.”
Emerson Royal is the other option Conte has in the right wing-back role and fans will be hoping the Brazilian will step up as they continue their quest to seal a top four spot.
