Aston Villa loanee Samuel Iling-Junior has joined Middlesbrough for the rest of the season - and made a big impact in their win on Saturday
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Samuel Iling-Junior (Image: Ashley Crowden/REX/Shutterstock)
Aston Villa did the business in comfortable style on Sunday afternoon, as they dispatched Championship outfit Preston North End to seal another trip to Wembley next month for an FA Cup semi-final bout.
Marcus Rashford's brace and Jacob Ramsey's strike in the second half proved eventually to be enough after a first half of frustration in which the Lilywhites stood firm and didn't allow for the difference in league status to be immediately obvious.
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Elsewhere this weekend, another Villan was in action and exceeding, too - although Villa supporters haven't yet seen him in claret and blue in competitive action.
Villa have a host of players out on loan around England and further afield, and for Samuel Iling-Junior they have a player who has an experience of both Serie A and Champions League football, as well as the more rough and tumble of the Championship.
Having been at Bologna in the first half of the campaign - and playing against Villa in Europe - Iling-Junior was relocated to Middlesbrough for the remainder of the campaign in January. He produced two excellent assists on Saturday as Boro fought back from a goal down to beat Oxford United and keep their play-off push alive.
It's fair to say the Boro supporters were impressed with his contribution...
BoroMike: Nice to see Samuel Iling-Junior doing his stuff. He could be a real asset in the last 7 games. He provides something different. Played well!
Jonny: Thought Iling-Junior was excellent today
Corey: Iling junior today wow I am deeply deeply moved
Chris: Iling Junior btw, 2 assists and another very solid performance. He’s getting better and better with every game. I’d never seen him play before he arrived at #Boro, starting to see what the hype was about now.
Matt: Fair play to #Boro, a much better 2nd half. The quality of crosses from Iling-Junior were superb.
Charlie Faye: Seems like getting Iling-Junior high and wide in crossing positions will be important for us. His final ball is good. Having lost Doak, we’ve been missing a player that can create width and chances from those positions.
Ben: Iling Junior has been brilliant today!
Ian Smith: Iling-Junior also showing hints of being another in the long line of players judged well before it's fair to.
Ry: Iling-Junior is going to break our hearts when he leaves after a loan to play in the Prem and comes back in 2-3 years but it won't be the same.
READ MORE: Marcus Rashford masterclass as Aston Villa romp home at Deepdale - pictures and match report
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