Aston Villa's Cameron Archer to discover loan decision next week

The 20-year-old, who netted in Wednesday’s 1-0 win over Brisbane Roar, is being wanted by a host of Championship clubs but could yet be kept on board by Villa boss Steven Gerrard as a third striker option behind Danny Ings and Ollie Watkins.

Gerrard is expected to make a decision on Archer’s short-term future when Villa return to the UK next week.

Archer explained: “He (Gerrard) said at the start he would let me know whether I will be going on loan or not at the end of the Australia tour.

“I’m going to do my best to impress him. Obviously, I would prefer to play here but whether I need to go out on loan to play games because that is what young players need, we will see.”