After Scott Hogan was loaned out to Sheffield United in January, Keinan Davis looked set to get more playing time under Dean Smith. Tammy Abraham is first-choice in attack and Jonathan Kodjia was often used in a wider role, so Davis seemingly had an opportunity for minutes from the bench. However, the 20-year-old has been an unused substitute nine times in the last two months and didn’t even make the matchday squad against Sheffield United on Friday.
The England u20 international has made 38 appearances in all competitions for Villa, the majority of which came in the Championship last season. Davis was given opportunities in 2017/18 under Steve Bruce, but Abraham’s outstanding form has led to him ousting out the competition. Davis’ only outing this season was against Swansea City in the FA Cup on January 5 – 18 minutes of football.
Given the young striker was retained while Rushian Hepburn-Murphy was loaned out last summer, he may have expected he’d feature in some capacity but things haven’t worked out. Davis has spent the season with the u23s and hasn’t come off the bench when he was promoted to the first-team. He’ll be in the final year of his contract next season and won’t want to spend it on the periphery again.
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