Rushian Hepburn-Murphy sent out a real statement to Tranmere Rovers boss Micky Mellon at the weekend as he netted a hat-trick against MK Dons in a 3-1 win. 

The young forward was making only his third league start of the season since arriving on loan from Aston Villa during the summer transfer window.

But he certainly took his chance in the starting XI as he scored all three of Tranmere's goals on the day, and will be hoping to have a run in the side as heading towards the festive period after his impressive showing.

In our latest FLW Spotlight, we look into Hepburn-Murphy's performance in this latest win in more detail.

It's safe to say that Hepburn-Murphy made quite the difference in this win, and he'll be hoping that he can make a good impression out on loan away from Villa Park.

It didn't come as a surprise to see the youngster loaned out by Dean Smith in the summer, as he would have been considerably far down the pecking order in Aston Villa's plans.

But he's started the season brightly with Tranmere, and will fancy his chances of adding to his goal tally as the season progresses in League One.

The 21-year-old didn't take long to score his first goal as he fired home to open the scoring against MK Dons after just 19 minutes on Saturday.

He then scored twice in the second-half to secure the match ball, before being substituted on 82 minutes after an impressive performance.

Hepburn-Murphy had a relatively quiet game apart from the three goals he scored, with the forward only attempting ten passes in total. But with a pass accuracy of 70%, it makes for good reading for the youngster.

The on-loan Aston Villa forward only had four touches in the MK Dons penalty area, but clearly took the chances that came his way on the day.

But one area that could do with improvement as the season progresses is the number of duels that Hepburn-Murphy wins during a game. He only won nine out of the 31 that he was faced with at the weekend, so it's clear to see that he sometimes struggles with the physicality of senior football at times.

Taking into consideration his age though, it's all a learning curve for the youngster in this loan spell, and as long as he's scoring goals for Tranmere, that will be the most important thing for Aston Villa, as Hepburn-Murphy looks to further his development in senior football.

Tranmere are next in action this weekend when they take on League One side Wycombe Wanderers, in what is certain to be a trick test in the FA Cup.