Aston Villa played their final match before the break for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar as they beat Brighton 2-1 away from home in the Premier League.

The Villans do not have another game until the 26th December and supporters have an international tournament to look forward to, providing their country qualified, in the meantime.

A number of players within Unai Emery's squad will be jetting off to link up with their respective countries in the coming days, including Emi Martinez and Matty Cash.

One player who will not be playing in the tournament, however, is central midfielder Jacob Ramsey as he was unable to force his way into the England squad.

The Villa academy product, who has been capped by his country at U18, 19, 20, and 21 level, has not done enough in 2022 to convince Gareth Southgate that he deserved to be on the plane.

Southgate explained, earlier this year, that Ramsey is pushing to break into the England set-up but that he is just behind the other options in that area of the park.

Indeed, he vindicated that in the win over Brighton on Sunday, with the Englishman proving why he isn't quite World Cup ready yet. He has two goals and two assists to his name, while averaging 3.0 tackles and interceptions per game in 15 Premier League outings this season but is still finding his consistency as he has shown that he is capable of putting in ineffective performances.

That is to be expected of a 21-year-old in his second full season at senior level and it is no shame that he has not instantly made himself an England regular at a young age, like Borussia Dortmund's Jude Bellingham - who has 17 caps for the Three Lions by the age of 19.

As per SofaScore, Ramsey did not win a single duel in 69 minutes on the pitch against the Seagulls. Despite playing for over an hour, the midfielder did not compete in any battles, in the air or on the ground, and made one clearance, whilst failing to make any blocks, tackles, or interceptions.

This shows that he struggled to get involved in the game from a defensive perspective as he did not get close enough to Brighton's players to engage in battles or read the game well enough to make interceptions and blocks for his side.

He also struggled in possession as he had fewer touches (19) than goalkeeper Emi Martinez (40) and only completed eight of his 12 attempted passes (67%).

Whilst you could attribute that to Brighton having 65% of the ball, Ramsey's lack of defensive work to win the ball back meant that he had fewer opportunities to make something happen for himself.

His performance highlighted the areas in which he needs to improve before he can really stake a claim for a place in the England squad and, hopefully, there will not be a question mark over his head when it comes to the European Championships in 2024.