Steven Gerrard to repeat Rangers trick at Aston Villa amid stunning Cameron Archer form

Former Premier League goalkeeper Paul Robinson has backed Aston Villa loanee Cameron Archer to force his way into Steven Gerrard's first-team plans next season.

Archer is currently playing his football at Preston North End and will return to Villa Park in the summer when his loan move expires at Deepdale.

The 20-year-old has hit the ground running at Preston having scored two goals in his last three Championship appearances for the Lillywhites in wins over West Bromwich Albion and Hull City last time out.

And Robinson thinks Archer will impress Villa head coach Gerrard in pre-season ahead of the 2022/23 campaign.

“I think he can come back into the Villa side,” he told Football Insider.

“He’ll get that opportunity under Steven Gerrard, in a similar way to what he did at Rangers with bringing young players through.

“Players at that age and stage in their careers, they go out on loan for a reason.

“You don’t send a player out and stop looking at him. They’ll have coaches and managers watching him week-in, week-out.

“They’ll know exactly how he’s playing and how he’s progressing at Preston.

“At the moment, I can definitely see him slotting straight back into that squad for pre-season in the run-up to next season.”