Aston Villa star slammed by Jamie Redknapp for ‘giving Thomas Partey nightmares’ and ‘turning Declan Rice inside out three times’ in loss: ‘He was like Jonah Lomu in his prime!’

Jamie Redknapp has praised an Aston Villa star, likening the midfielder to ‘Jonah Lomu in his prime’.

Villa suffered their first Premier League defeat of the season, beating Arsenal 2-0 despite being the better side for most of the second matchday of the new campaign.

Ollie Watkins missed two big chances for the home side, but Leandro Trossard and Thomas Partey scored to give Arsenal a 2-0 win despite Villa’s impressive performance.

One of the players who shone was Morgan Rodgers, who made his 13th appearance for the club since joining from Middlesbrough in February. The 22-year-old was the linchpin of the team and performed superbly.

He was the one who Redknapp considered to be one of the better players and in an interview with Sky Sports he was full of praise for the Villa player.

A star Aston Villa player has been praised by Jamie Redknapp for his performance against Arsenal

Redknapp said midfielder Thomas Partey (left) and Declan Rice (right) were in charge

Morgan Rogers (right) was one of the standout performers for Villa in Saturday afternoon’s match

“There are a lot of things you like about him,” Redknapp began. “I enjoyed his performances last year when he came to Villa.

“You look at his size, that amount of skill, pace, power. He’s so hard to stop. He gave Partey nightmares, he couldn’t live with him. Rice, he turns himself inside out about three times a second.

“He was unplayable, absolutely amazing. He’s 22. Sometimes when he picked up the ball and ran, it was like seeing Jonah Lomu in his prime.”

Rogers declined to comment on possible international ambitions after the match, laughing when asked and telling Sky Sports he had not considered senior England recognition despite interim manager Lee Carsley being in the crowd.

The midfielder has played at various youth levels for England, including two caps for Carsley in the Under-21s, and could be called up for the next squad, which will be announced next week.

Lee Hendrie meanwhile challenged Rogers to improve his game even further.

Redknapp described Rogers as ‘unplayable’ and ‘absolutely superb despite being on the losing side’

He added that ‘it was like seeing (former rugby star) Jonah Lomu (left) in his prime

Unai Emery’s side have three points from their opening two games after beating West Ham last week

‘He’s got a fluid and exciting balance when he gets the ball, and that’s what I really like about him,’ said Hendrie. ‘Unai Emery said he wants to get him fit and strong – he looks fit and strong and he’s caused problems for top players there.

“I think it’s great that he’s got that drive from midfield. I will say, if he can add goals to his game. We see so many players to get into those good areas, but do they have those goals and assists?”