Why Aston Villa star Johan Manzambi has left Adrian Durham 'absolutely gutted'

Adrian Durham hopes to see Aston Villa's Johan Manzambi "shining every week" amid his injury setback.

The 21-year-old joined as the Villains' first signing of the summer, making the marquee move from Freiburg.

After being unavailable through injury for the first three Premier League games of the season, fans had to be patient to see the Swiss international.

Now that they have, the Villa Park faithful will never want to let him out of their sights again.

With Morgan Rogers leaving a massive boots to fill, Manzambi has stepped into them in hugely impressive style, scoring three goals and providing two assists already.

Keeping him fit and firing this season will be a key ingredient to another successful year for Unai Emery's side.

What did Adrian Durham say about Johan Manzambi?

As Villa take on Viking in the Champions League on Wednesday, it remains to be seen how Emery will approach it from a squad rotation perspective.

One player who the decision has been taken out of his hands in this respect is Manzambi.

The midfielder is dealing with a minor issue he picked up against Newcastle, and won't be fit to play as a result.

Speaking via talkSPORT on Wednesday morning, this has left Durham hugely disappointed as he prepares to make the trip to Villa Park for the game.

"I'm at Villa tonight, I'm really looking forward to it. Somehow they maintain that atmosphere despite the rebuilding that's going on," he said.

"Johan Manzambi isn't playing tonight though, and I'm absolutely gutted about that.

"He was brilliant at the World Cup, he's been brilliant for Villa. Listen I still expect them to win the game.

"I'd love to see him shining every single week, because that's one of the signings of the summer without a doubt.

"It's just a shame that at the start of the season he wasn't fully fit."

So, just how good was Manzambi against Newcastle last time out aside from his goal?

How many ground duels did Manzambi win vs Newcastle?

Villa continued their upward trajectory in form last Saturday after defeating Newcastle 1-0 at St James' Park.

Manzambi's first-half header made all the difference on the night, and it was his goal that saw him grab the headlines.

However, his underlying numbers paint an even broader picture as to just how dominant he was on Tyneside, and why Durham is right to curse his absence on Wednesday.

Per FotMob, he created two chances, put three shots on goal, completed both of his two dribble attempts successfully and made two recoveries.

He also won four of his five (80 per cent) ground duels and won two fouls, on top of making one interception and taking four touches in Newcastle's box.

It will be interesting to see how Emery juggles his starting line-up to deal with Manzambi's absence on Wednesday night.

Whoever is tasked with stepping into his place in the side has a very tough task replicating the impact he's made this season.