Danny Murphy on Aston Villa defender Tyrone Mings & his ‘stamp’, mentions Zlatan Ibrahimovic

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Tyrone Mings made his debut for Aston Villa during their goalless draw against Reading at the weekend.

Danny Murphy has stated that Aston Villa defender Tyrone Mings should be given ‘the benefit of the doubt’ following his alleged stamp on Reading striker Nelson Oliveira at the weekend.

During the goalless draw [BBC Sport] at the Madejski Stadium, Mings, who is on loan from Bournemouth, appeared to stamp on Oliveira’s face, which resulted in him having several deep cuts on his face.

As reported by BBC Sport, in 2017 the then-Cherries player was given a five-match ban for his alleged stamp on the head of Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Former Liverpool midfielder and talkSPORT pundit Murphy shared his thoughts on Mings’ previous incident when trying to examine whether the defender’s alleged actions at the weekend were deliberate or not.

“Do you remember the Zlatan Ibrahimovic [incident],” Murphy told Jim White on talkSPORT on 04/02/2019. “He had something similar at Old Trafford, which I actually thought looked very innocent if I’m honest.

“But when you start seeing something consistently, well I say consistently, it’s only two [incidents], give him the benefit of the doubt. But, he was apologetic, He was gutted by the sounds of it, so we have to accept his word.”

Referee Geoff Eltringham, who officiated the Championship clash, didn’t punish Mings at the time, but Sky Sports report that the incident is being investigated by the FA.

As reported by Villa’s official website, Mings joined the Midlands outfit on deadline day from Bournemouth putting pen-to-paper on a loan deal until the end of the season.

After his arrival, Villa manager Dean Smith threw him straight into the action as he played alongside Tommy Elphick at the heart of the club’s defence to help his new side secure their first clean sheet of 2019.

If Mings is banned for his alleged actions then it would be a body blow to Smith, who would have been hoping to add consistency and stability to his backline ahead of a number of big matches.