After a record breaking run of form, Aston Villa notched up ten wins on the spin to propel ourselves into the Play-Off spots and we are guaranteed a season extension as head coach Dean Smith looks to return us to our rightful place in the Premier League.
It’s going to be a big summer for the club with plenty of players out of contract, the future of key loanees to sort, and of course we have our younger lads (as well as some seniors) out on loan spells of their own.
Time to find out how they have done now we’re in May and the campaign is almost at a close.
Mitch Clark capped an impressive pre-season with the first team and our Under 23s by bagging a loan out to Port Vale. The 20-year-old Welshman hit the ground running at Vale Park and has 44 starting appearances to his name so far and by all accounts, he’s been very impressive across those matches. He also has one substitute showing.
Aaron Tshibola renewed his acquaintance with Steve Clarke up at Scottish Premiership side Kilmarnock after a semi-successful spell in the second half of the 2017/18 campaign. He made his second bow for them in the clash against Aberdeen and he now has 22 starting appearances to his name, with a return of one goal and six further showings from the substitutes bench.
Gary Gardner made the switch across the City to join up with brother Craig at Birmingham City. He has now made 41 starting appearances for them, returning two goals. He also has a substitute showing.
Ross McCormack again headed out to Australia for a season-long loan with Central Coast Marriners. The 32-year-old had five league starts to his name, with only one goal returned. Having headed back in January following the cancellation of that spell, he moved north of the border back to former club Motherwell in early January. He has one start to his name, with three showings from the bench so far. He apparently remains injured with his last appearance coming in early February.
Ritchie de Laet also headed out to Australia for the year, joining up with Melbourne City. He has 24 league appearances to his name and has now returned seven goals.
Rushian Hepburn-Murphy went out earlier in January to Cambridge United. He has 10 starting appearances to his name, with a further six substitute showings. He has now bagged two goals.
Late January departures added to the list.
James Bree – Ipswich Town. The 21-year-old now has 12 starting appearances to his name, with a further showing from the bench.
Callum O’Hare – Carlisle United. 21-year-old O’Hare has 15 appearances to his name so far, with a return of three goals.
Corey Blackett-Taylor – Walsall. He’s made five starting appearances for them, with five further showings from the bench.
Jake Doyle-Hayes – Cambridge United. JDH has made four starts and two substitute appearances.
Scott Hogan – Sheffield United. The 27-year-old has five starts and three substitute showings, but has now returned two goals for them.
Harry McKirdy – Newport County. He has two starts to his name, with nine further substitute showings so far.
Deadline day capture Frederic Guilbert did sign permanent terms with us, but was instantly loaned back to former club Caen until the summer. He’s played in 10 games (one sub showing) since doing the deal.
Fans will have their own thoughts on who is likely to have impressed Smith, but there are a couple of standouts for me.
I’ll find out over the summer if he agrees, but for now, that’s all she wrote for this year.
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