Rushian Hepburn-Murphy

[Tokyo Sexwhale]

Congratulations to the young lad today on his first Premier League start.

And also to Tim Sherwood, for giving some of the young lads a taste of the first team.

[Tokyo Sexwhale]

Also, just realised his first name is an anagram of Ian Rush!  Coincidence?

[Mortimer's Bear]

Bless him he looked petrified when he was waiting to come on!

[DrGonzo]

Bless him he looked petrified when he was waiting to come on!

Don't know why, by that point it looked like the game was being played behind closed doors! Hope it was a great feeling for the lad.

[pauliewalnuts]

This kid is so unknown, I looked at his twitter when I saw him in the line up and he had about 30 followers.

[dean saunders left boot]

Great to see him given the chance, kudos to Tim Sherwood for obviously seeing how he's been doing in the under 18's/training and not only took him along with the first team but given him a run out in the premier league too. Cracking name too!

[berneboy]

Aston Villa manager Tim Sherwood is famed for giving youth a chance, with Tottenham Hotspur now benefiting from the faith he showed in the likes of Harry Kane and Nabil Bentaleb last season.

Now at Villa Park, Sherwood showed that willingness to blood young players remains, after he named 16-year-old Rushian Hepburn-Murphy on the substitutes’ bench for the Premier League match against Sunderland.

For those Villa fans eager to know more about him, here are five facts to get you started:

1) Hepburn-Murphy was born in September 1998 – that is after the World Cup in France which shows just how young Villa’s latest talent is!

2) The teenager is a centre-forward who has played three times for the club’s under-21 side to date, racking up 97 minutes on the pitch but yet to score a goal.

3) The Villa youngster has represented England’s under-16 side on four occasions, making his debut in November 2013.

4) Hepburn-Murphy recently impressed for Villa in the Wiesbadener Liliencup – an under-17 tournament played at the start of the year. The forward was the competition’s joint-top scorer with five goals, including a hat-trick against Rapid Vienna.

5) The teenager is a local lad who has come through the ranks at the club and given his talent there is no reason to suggest he will not ultimately be a very effective option for Sherwood in time.

[Tokyo Sexwhale]

This kid is so unknown, I looked at his twitter when I saw him in the line up and he had about 30 followers.

He has nearly 1900 now!

[OCD]

Also, just realised his first name is an anagram of Ian Rush!  Coincidence?

Not a very good anagram. It's just missing a comma. Well done to the kid. He's making me feel old though. 

[OCD]

This kid is so unknown, I looked at his twitter when I saw him in the line up and he had about 30 followers.

112 now. Or you were looking at the number of people he's following (32).

[SoccerHQ]

In my defence I was a fair bit away in the pub but honestly thought that was Cissokho  coming on!

Like many I know people like Kinsella and Calder but never heard of this kid either before today.

[pauliewalnuts]

This kid is so unknown, I looked at his twitter when I saw him in the line up and he had about 30 followers.

112 now. Or you were looking at the number of people he's following (32).

No, it was definitely in the 30s and followers this morning.

[supertom]

Quality name.
He looked terrified before he came on. But he seemed to settle in by the end. He had a bit of a nip at one of their players and gave away a foul, but it's one of those where as a wee lad it's good to just show you're not going to get pushed around.

I'll be interested to see if we hear more of the lad in the next couple of years. I'd guess Robinson will be ahead of him in the order next season, but lets loan him out, get him playing.

[OCD]

He's only played for the U21's 3 times before today apparently.

[supertom]

This just goes to show the benefit of bringing the U-21's to train next to the full side. Everyone is in with a shout now. There will be a lot of our academy players chomping at the bit to impress, and I also think many of our seniors will be pulling out all the stops to maintain their form.