Why George Hemmings can hold his head up high despite Aston Villa shocker vs Brighton

George Hemmings proved that Unai Emery was right to show faith in him despite Aston Villa's 4-0 loss to Brighton.

The 19-year-old made his first Premier League start for the Villans, but he could not stop his side from a heavy drubbing on Sunday.

The Villans were without the likes of Emi Martinez, Ollie Watkins, Brian Madjo and Johan Manzambi and that showed.

A double from Jack Hinshelwood, an own goal from Victor Lindelof and a Maxim De Cuyper strike put Emery's side firmly on the back foot at the break.

They could not recover, despite Hemmings and his teammates' efforts at the Amex Stadium.

However, it is not all doom and gloom as the young ace proved that the manager can trust him on the South Coast.

How did George Hemmings perform in Aston Villa's loss vs Brighton?

The youngster can hold his head up high, even after such a big loss.

He managed 23 touches in the contest from the left flank, per data from FotMob.

He created one chance for his teammates and made three line-breaking passes in the clash.

Defensively, he made five contributions, with three tackles and two recoveries to try and help his team out.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of his showing was ground duels as he won four out of five, for an 80 per cent success rate.

In the air, he won two of four that he attempted, for a 50 per cent success rate in that metric.

Emery will surely not hesitate to utilise him again after his display against the Seagulls.

When will Hemmings' next opportunity come along?

Hemmings' next chance to make an impression on the manager will be the Villa Park clash with Arsenal on 31 August.

Emery may choose to go with more senior options against the champions, though, so he may have to wait.

The away clash with Hull City on 5 September may be pencilled in as another opportunity for the academy starlet to feature from the start

However, they showed that they are not pushovers with their 2-0 opening day win over Manchester United.

After that, the B6 outfit are at home against Nottingham Forest on 12 September, and Hemmings may fancy his chance against the City Ground side.