ASTON Villa manager Dean Smith says Marvelous Nakamba produced such a fine shift on Monday night it was difficult, at times, to believe he was only making his English Premiership debut.

An English journalist, who covers the club for its hometown newspaper, described the midfielder as a ‘‘smooth operator.’’

And Nakamba’s Scottish teammate, John McGinn, said the Zimbabwean midfielder was everywhere on the pitch.

Such was his impact the English Premiership club shortlisted him among the four players from whom the fans had to choose their man-of-the-match.

After finally making his Premiership bow on Monday night, in a high tempo battle against West Ham United, in which he played for 80 minutes before being pulled out, Nakamba was, expectedly, the dominant subject in Zimbabwean football yesterday.

His debut came before 42 010 fans at Villa Park, the biggest crowd, to watch a Zimbabwean player making his first appearance in the English Premiership.State media