Aston Villa’s Ben Chrisene was thrust onto the big stage on Tuesday night when his Blackburn Rovers side locked horns with Newcastle United in the FA Cup.
The 20-year-old secured a loan move to the Championship in January from Aston Villa and it seems as though he has caught the eye.
Despite Blackburn, who are hovering above the relegation zone, losing the game on penalties, they took a pretty strong Newcastle team all the way and were very unfortunate to be on the losing side.
Ben Chrisene played the entire match, including extra-time, with Danny Murphy and Guy Mowbray waxing lyrical about the left-back as the game was heading to a shootout.
The BBC commentator noted how the Aston Villa academy product just got ‘better and better’ as the game wore on, whilst Danny Murphy was amazed by his ‘energy’, as they told BBC One.
You feel a certain Unai Emery will be aware of the youngster’s performance and it will bode well for him going forward.
Of course, Ben Chrisene will now have bigger things on his mind because his team are in a battle for the drop, but he is impressing during these early stages of his loan spell.
Ben Chrisene shines for Blackburn Rovers in the FA Cup against Newcastle United
“Livramento closed down by Ben Chrisene who has been better and better with every minute of this match,” said commenter Guy Mowbray.
Danny Murphy added: “Incredible energy. Desire. I can honestly say, I think it would be impossible to pick a Man of the Match for Blackburn. There have been that many brilliant performances.”
Ben Chrisene next season
There is every chance there are changes to Villa’s left-back spot in the summer, with Alex Moreno the number one and Lucas Digne as the back-up.
But it wouldn’t be a surprise if the latter leaves, which then opens the door for someone to take that squad role going into next season.
What’s interesting is that Villa signed Lino Sousa from Arsenal in January and the teenager was instantly loaned out to Plymouth Argyle.
Villa should surely use either Sousa or Chrisene as Moreno’s back-up next season, take Digne off the books and help the club when it comes to FFP.
