John Terry expects former Chelsea colleague Bertrand Traore to make a big impact for Aston Villa after watching the striker enjoy a goalscoring bow at Bristol City.
Traore needed only 14 minutes to get off the mark on debut with Anwar El Ghazi and substitute Ollie Watkins also on target in a 3-0 Carabao Cup win at Ashton Gate.
The 25-year-old made just four Premier League starts at Chelsea before joining Lyon in 2017, but he has returned from France as a £17million player.
“It was important for him to get off to a great start,” said Villa assistant manager and former Chelsea captain Terry, who saw Traore in his formative years at Stamford Bridge.
“We saw that with Emi (Martinez) save a penalty on the weekend and he (Traore) is someone who hasn’t played in a while as well. So to get the goal and top it off was good.
“He was someone at Chelsea who was very hungry. He went away from the Premier League but he’s always had that desire to come back and prove himself.
“He’s got that opportunity now at Aston Villa and personally and professionally we’re delighted to have him.”
Traore was the stand-out performer as Villa manager Dean Smith changed his entire team after Monday’s Premier League win over Sheffield United.
John McGinn, Tyrone Mings and Watkins were among the substitutes with England international Jack Grealish left at home.
But Terry says the potential attacking partnership with Traore on the right and Grealish on the left is an exciting prospect for Villa fans.
“He (Traore) has that quality, the pace to run behind as well,” Terry said.
“He can isolate people in one-on-one situations and we have that on the other side with Jack as well.
“That might free Jack up as well if we can play very quickly during games.
“It was a very good performance to get the win and to go through to the next round is very important.”
Villa have a 100 per cent record this season after three games and will entertain Stoke in round four next week.
Bristol City sit second in the Sky Bet Championship and this defeat came on the back of four season-opening wins.
Manager Dean Holden made eight changes himself after Sunday’s victory at Stoke and said: “I thought we gave ourselves a mountain to climb with those two goals in the first 15 minutes.
“We had a big chance at 2-0 and if that goes in who knows? These are the fine margins in these type of games.
“We went toe-to-toe with a Premier League team and let a third goal in on the counter-attack.
“My full focus now is on Sheffield Wednesday on Sunday and I’m not going to get too down with this.”
