Aston Villa: Rushian Hepburn-Murphy returns from extended injury layoff

Aston Villa’s dreary forward situation is set to receive a glimmer of improvement on the injury front. 19-year old striker Rushian Hepburn-Murphy will make a return to the Under-23 squad on November 30th in Premier League 2 action.

Amid Jonathan Kodjia’s potentially season-ending ankle surgery, Scott Hogan’s stomach procedure, and Gabby Agbonlahor’s lingering calf problem, the claret and blues are set to gain Rushian Hepburn-Murphy back into the first team picture.

Currently, the plethora of forward injuries have yet to affect club performance, thanks to the brilliant play of fellow 19-year old striker Keinan Davis. Aston Villa sit in a cozy fourth place, nine points adrift of leaders Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Steve Bruce rightfully asked England U-20 boss Paul Simpson to not include Davis in his plans this past international window. KD was going to receive a whole lot of playing time up front with little-to-no options behind him in the short-term.

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Rushian Hepburn-Murphy, who is still looking for his first career professional goal, may not be the first team answer in 2017/2018. However, what he does provide is relief for Davis until the new year.

The England U-19 forward had been out since September 1st with a painful thigh muscle strain.

Saturday’s 2-1 victory over Sunderland highlighted the dearth of attacking options available to Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce. The bench included one recognized attacker in Jack Grealish, followed by defender Ritchie De Laet, fullback/right midfielder hybrid Ahmed Elmohamady, two central midfielders, and left midfielder Birkir Bjarnason – who cannot seem to receive any match time with the Villa first team.

It has been a rough few years for the injury plagued Hepburn-Murphy. His six first team appearances since March 2015 is not what the forward imagined when he made his Premier League debut under then-manager Tim Sherwood at the age of 16.

With a return date of November 30th, Hepburn-Murphy likely will not be available for first team selection for another week or two thereafter. The player must build-up fitness and match sharpness before leap-frogging fellow first teamers for a spot on Villa’s bench. Aston Villa play host to Ipswich Town on Saturday at Villa Park.