Lucas Digne was guilty of making a 'ridiculous' challenge on his Aston Villa debut, according to Sky Sports pundit Andy Hinchcliffe. 

The lowdown

Digne only joined Villa from Everton on Thursday for a fee of £23million plus add-ons.

But Steven Gerrard dropped him straight into the starting line-up for the clash with The Red Devils, meaning Matt Targett made way.

It was his first Premier League appearance since Everton's 4-1 defeat against Liverpool at the start of December.

27 minutes into the game, the Frenchman was shown a yellow card for a foul on Diogo Dalot just outside Aston Villa's penalty area.

The latest

During Sky Sports' coverage of the match, Hinchcliffe fumed at Digne for what he felt was a careless tackle.

And he took it as further evidence that, for all Digne's attacking threat, the other side of his game may be lacking.

"I did mention it before kick off - I do have worries about Lucas Digne's defensive ability," he said.

"This is a ridiculous challenge. He's nowhere near the ball, he flies off his feet.

"You just need to stay on your feet and force Dalot backwards.

"He's brilliant going forward, getting over the halfway line, delivering crosses.

"But defensively, time and again, he does make errors."

The verdict

Does Hinchcliffe have a point? Well, the France star's offensive strengths were on show at Villa Park as he created a 'big chance' for Emiliano Buendia from a corner.

But it was a struggle for the 28-year-old off the ball. He won only two of his eight ground duels, a success rate of just 25% (via SofaScore).

Digne will know that any lapses could be costly with £15.3million-rated Targett waiting in the wings, ready to take his place back.

In other news, talks are underway over this Aston Villa transfer.