Aston Villa assessing Matt Targett after hamstring injury mars impressive debut

The 24-year-old, who joined from Southampton for an initial £11.5million fee last summer, was enjoying an impressive Premier League debut for Villa until going off just past the hour mark.

Targett is expected to undergo a scan, with boss Dean Smith hopeful the issue is not too serious.

The former England under-21 international had been out for nearly a month with an injury to his other hamstring, before making his return in last week’s 3-1 Carabao Cup win at Brighton.

“I thought Matt played really well but unfortunately he felt his other hamstring,” said Smith. “We are hoping it is more of a cramp than anything else. It was always a bit of a gamble playing him two games on the spin after coming back from injury.

“But his performance on Wednesday was very good.”

Targett’s injury, which occured when Villa were winning 1-0, proved a significant moment in Saturday’s game with his replacement, Neil Taylor, then caught out when Jay Rodriguez levelled for Burnley.

John McGinn put Villa back ahead only for Chris Wood to level things up again just two minutes later.

Former Albion striker Rodriguez, who also scored for the Baggies at Villa Park last season, cupped his hands to his ears when celebrating his goal.

The 30-year-old joined Burnley for £10million in the summer, having been part of the Albion team beaten by Villa on their way to promotion through the play-offs.

“I really enjoyed the goal, I love the atmosphere here and it is all good fun,” said Rodriguez.

“There is that bit of rivalry (from playing for Albion) and it is nice. If you look at last season, Villa probably deserved to get promoted.

“It was two tough games and we just missed out on penalties unluckily for us.

“But it is a great stadium to come to and atmosphere. It is good to get a result here.”