Cameron Archer impressing out on loan

Cameron Archer looks to have a bright future at Aston Villa, but he wasn’t getting into the first-team ahead of Ollie Watkins and Danny Ings this season, so he was loaned out in January.

The 20-year-old joined Preston North End until the end of the campaign and has impressed at Deepdale, finding the back of the net consistently while quickly nailing down a regular starting place.

Archer has made 12 Championship appearances for Preston, scoring five goals, and had a goal-to-game ratio of 0.5 from his first 10 games. The England U20 international has featured in every second-tier game for the Lilywhites since joining and has started in their last nine league outings.

Archer scored two goals with one assist in 17 games for the U18s and scored 17 goals with seven assists in 36 games for the U23s before making the step-up to the first-team. He’s scored four goals in six games at senior level and will push for a spot in the first-team next season when he returns from his loan.

Gerrard felt it would be better for Archer to get competitive football rather than play a supporting role for Watkins and Ings, and his decision is paying off.

In other news, Keinan Davis impressing on loan at Nottingham Forest