Three tackles, nine duels won: How Ritchie De Laet fared on his Aston Villa debut

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The 27-year-old Belgian right-back played 70 minutes in Saturday’s 3-1 loss at Bristol City.

Only three days after completing a £2.5 million move from Leicester City, Ritchie De Laet was already making his debut for Aston Villa.

The 27-year-old Belgian right-back was thrown straight into the line-up by manager Roberto Di Matteo for Saturday’s clash with Bristol City at Ashton Gate, but it ultimately proved a game he will want to forget.

With Leandro Bacuna playing in front of him, the former Manchester United youngster made a promising start to the afternoon when he produced some impressive last-ditch defending to prevent the hosts from equalising soon after Jack Grealish had given Di Matteo’s men a fifth-minute lead.

He continued to fare well over the rest of the first-half, looking solid at the back and composed when going forward, but things soon fell apart after the interval as the hosts began to attack down Villa’s right.

After an error by goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini gifted Tammy Abraham a 59^th-minute equaliser, the ex-Foxes defender was subsequently nowhere to be found two minutes later when the man he was supposed to be marking, Joe Bryan, raced behind the backline before collecting a pass and firing into the far corner.

He did not get much more time to make amends after that as the two-timed capped international was taken off for Libor Kozak nine minutes later with Villa looking for a response, before Lee Tomlin’s 81^st-minute free-kick ended their hopes of a comeback.

Overall, the newly arrived full-back only completed 59 percent of his 32 passes, while he also failed to serve up an accurate cross and, despite his noted attacking qualities, did not even attempt a dribble.

He did manage to win a match-leading nine duels during his 70^th-minute performance, as well as record three tackles and five recoveries, but there were times after the break when he looked worryingly out of place at the back.

Nevertheless, De Laet was certainly not the only Villa player who disappointed in the second half on Saturday, and having only had a few days to train with the team, he should probably be afforded some leeway.

The Belgian new boy now has the international break to help him settle into the squad and will hopefully start to show his true value when the claret and blues host Nottingham Forest on 11 September.

He has already enjoyed success in the Championship after all, having won promotion with Leicester in 2014 and helped Middlesbrough go up last season while on loan, and that experience should prove vital to Di Matteo’s side over the course of the campaign.

Whether using him on the same side as Bacuna is a wise move remains up for debate at this point, but he should certainly have no problems holding down the right-back job over the versatile Dutchman and Alan Hutton if he plays to his full ability.