Gary Shaw: Danny Ings can be Aston Villa's new Holte End hero
Legendary Villa striker Gary Shaw believes Danny Ings is already on the way to becoming a Holte End hero after his stunning home debut goal.
Ings jumpstarted Villa’s season with an acrobatic scissor kick to open the scoring in Saturday’s 2-0 win over Newcastle.
The strike delighted the first capacity crowd at Villa Park for more than 18 months and European Cup winner Shaw reckons the 29-year-old, who now has two goals in two starts for his new club, has already endeared himself to supporters.
Shaw said: “The Holte End have taken to him already and they always do with goalscorers and they can become heroes.
“It doesn’t take long when they see a goal like that. They don’t see one like that too often, that type of finish. It just shows his capabilities.
“Two in two is a great start to his confidence and settling in. I bet he was looking forward to playing in front of 40,000, a packed ground. He would have loved that. The atmosphere was fantastic and he will grow to like that.”
Ings scored 46 goals in three seasons at Southampton, rebuilding his career after an injury-plagued spell at Liverpool.
Having joined ambitious Villa in a £25million deal earlier this month, Shaw hopes he can hit the heights cruelly denied him at Anfield.
Shaw said: “Hopefully he can achieve at Villa what everyone was hoping when he went to Liverpool.
“A lot was expected of him after he went to Anfield from Burnley and he got stopped in his tracks by the injury.
“He’s 29 so his peak years are lying ahead and we can get two or three good years out of him if he can stay injury free. Throughout his career he’s never lost form when he has played. He’s never really had a bad patch.
“No disrespect to Southampton but hopefully this is a club on the up and he can play a big part in that for two or three years. I’ve got every confidence in him, he’s a quality player.”
Villa boss Dean Smith, meanwhile, revealed Ings is already having a big impact off the field too.
He explained: “You speak to coaches he has worked with before and everyone is very complimentary about the sort of lad Danny is.
"He has settled in straight away and the standards he has will lift the dressing room. I’m not only pleased with Danny Ings the player but Danny Ings the person.”
