It's fair to say that Aston Villa boss Dean Smith certainly has a number of high quality strikers available to him, which has given him numerous selection dilemmas in the early stages of his time at the club. 

There has been one striker in particular that Villa fans would have been keen to see more of this season, and that is academy graduate, Rushian Hepburn-Murphy.

But, due to the good form shown by the likes of Tammy Abraham and Jonathan Kodjia, the youngster's opportunities have been limited this season.

The 20-year-old has also recently been ruled out with a hamstring injury, but many fans were eagerly anticipating his comeback from injury against Derby for the Villa U23 side.

Birmingham Mail have confirmed that comeback was short lived as the striker was withdrawn after the hour mark after being involved in a heavy collision, which is likely to set him back in his recovery.

The news of his fresh injury will come as a blow to Smith, who is seemingly still experimenting with his squad as he looks to find his strongest XI to challenge for promotion this season.

The former Bees boss would have been keeping an eye on his development and news of his injury will be disappointing news to both Smith and the Villa supporters, many of whom would have backed the youngster to feature in what has been a poor start to the season.

The Verdict

With Smith having a number of his first-team strikers fit at this present time it would seem difficult for Hepburn-Murphy to get a run in the side.

But, news of his fresh injury problems will be a blow to Villa fans who would have been keen to see the young striker kick-on this season and establish himself in the first-team set-up.

If he can recover in good time then I would expect to see him staking a strong claim for a starting spot in the Aston Villa XI in the near future.

Thoughts? Let us know! 

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