Aston Villa’s loanees: What’s being said about the young trio with Championship sides?

It is a sign of the progress at Aston Villa that the club can afford to loan out such exciting talent as Keinan Davis, Jaden Philogene-Bidace and Cameron Archer.

Davis in particular has enjoyed decent spells of first team football and both Philogene-Bidace and Archer have often been substitutes. Most notably, Archer bagged a memorable hat-trick against Barrow on his full debut in the League Cup earlier this season.

We take a look at the trio as they cut their teeth in the hugely competitive and physical Championship, which is often described as the most unpredictable league in the world.

Keinan Davis – Nottingham Forest

Approaching his 24^th birthday in mid-February, Davis is no longer a rookie, especially with 73 Villa league appearances to his name.

Always a handful, it is acknowledged the powerful striker needs to add more goals to his game if he is to become a regular top flight player.

However, his value to the team should not be underestimated and Davis has started all three of Forest’s matches since making the switch to the East Midlands for the rest of the season.

Davis has been on the winning side in all three games in Forest colours, including a memorable FA Cup victory over Arsenal and win against arch-rivals Derby County.

Davis will be aiming to net his first Forest goal tonight (Tuesday) at home to relegation-threatened Barnsley before a visit to lowly Cardiff City on Sunday.

Forest boss Steve Cooper said: “I have tracked Keinan over a number of seasons and think this is a good move for all parties.”

Davis is providing a youthful energy up front for Forest and is already proving a great complement to the more experienced Lewis Grabban and Lyle Taylor.

Arsenal centre-backs Ben White and Rob Holding are surely still having nightmares after being run ragged by Davis’ powerful runs in the FA Cup encounter.

Davis has set the standard, now can he add the goals?

Jaden Philogene-Bidace – Stoke City

The 19-year-old, who turns 20 in a fortnight, has joined the play-off-chasing Potters on loan for the remainder of the campaign and he impressed in his late cameo on Saturday against rampant leaders Fulham, who secured a thrilling 3-2 victory in the Potteries.

Stoke boss Michael O’Neill said of the young forward/winger: “Jaden has real quality and you could see that immediately.

“Every time he was on the ball you sensed something could happen. He is an exciting player who loves being on the ball.

“He is going to be an asset for us over the second half of the season, there is no doubt about that.”

Philogene-Bidace will be hoping to make his first start for Stoke over the coming days. The Potters are at Coventry City tonight (Tuesday) and then on the road again on Friday when they visit Huddersfield Town.

Cameron Archer – Preston North End

Arguably the most headline-grabbing move of the three is striker Archer’s switch to Lancashire.

New Preston boss Ryan Lowe could not hide his delight at acquiring the services of the 20-year-old, who also scored against European champions Chelsea in the round following his Barrow heroics and has six goals in four Papa John’s Trophy matches this season.

Archer, who has departed B6 until the end of the season to a barrage of well wishes from Villa fans, has made three Premier League appearances this season.

He has the chance to make an instant impression for his loan club and also put a smile on the faces of Villa supporters if he can do some damage against West Brom at the Hawthorns tomorrow (Wednesday).

Lowe cannot wait to see what the pacy Archer can do in the hustle and bustle of the Championship and seems likely to throw his new recruit straight into the starting XI.

An elated Lowe said: “There were several clubs chasing his signature but we’re the privileged ones to be able to take him.

“We’re absolutely delighted. He is a natural goalscorer who I’m really excited to work with and hopefully he’ll score some goals for us.”

“I’ve monitored Cameron for a while and since Stevie (Gerrard) got the job at Villa I’ve bombarded him with calls.

“I was interested in taking him to Plymouth when I was down there and obviously when you come to a Championship club you feel you are on the top end of the scale in getting a player like Cameron.

“He’s been involved with Villa all season, he’s scored some good goals in cup competitions and played a part for them.”

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