samuel's aston villa debut came in a second-round second-leg league cup match against chester city on 21 september 1999, which finished 5–0 in aston villa's favour. he replaced gareth barry after 51 minutes at villa park. on 25 march 2000, due to an injury to england international gareth southgate, he made his league debut in a 2–0 home win over derby county, playing in central defence.