Every game is a big game for Aston Villa right now and Tuesday’s EFL Cup tie with League One Wycombe was a big chance for Jhon Duran to show watching boss Unai Emery he is ready to start in the Premier League.
Duran has impressed coming off the substitutes bench this season, scoring four times in five top-flight games. Could he do the business from the start?
Named in Emery’s XI to face Wycombe, the 20-year-old Colombia striker could – and should – have scored in the opening 35 seconds when he was sent clean through but missed the target.
Then he rounded Wycombe keeper Franco Ravizzoli but the angle was too tight for him to finish.
The effort was there from the No 9 but in a team that struggled to impose themselves on their lower league opponents, Duran cut a frustrated figure at times.
He did get another goal when he scored from the penalty spot to make it 2-0 late on after the referee adjudged Duran to have been fouled, much to the displeasure of the home fans.
Duran put it away with confidence but it is likely he will find himself in a familiar position when Emery recalls Villa’s resting stars for the visit to Ipswich on Sunday (14:00 BST) – back on the bench.
