Aston Villa striker Keinan Davis looks for Championship loan

The 23-year-old has found himself on the fringes at Villa this season and has played just 11 minutes of first-team football, in the Premier League defeat at Southampton – Dean Smith’s final game in charge – last month.

Davis, who was signed from non-league Biggleswade Town in 2015, has suggested that a temporary switch to the Championship, where he can play regularly, is on his agenda. The striker does not see such a move as ‘a step back’.

“To look at, it doesn’t look too good. The minutes I have got have been like eight or nine minutes, but it’s all appearances. I know it, the coaches know it and everyone in football knows it (how important it is to play),” Davis said.

“For me, I would say I need a good clean run of games whether that’s at Villa or somewhere else just to get experience and get goals and stuff like that.

“Yeah, depending on what the club say, that’s something I would like to do, to play more consistent games, so yeah.”

London-born Davis has made 86 appearances for Villa’s first team in all competitions, though just 28 of those have been starts. He added: “For a player like me, I’m still young. I’m trying to find my way. Going down to the Championship, I wouldn’t see that as a step back at all.”

n Holders Villa relinquished the FA Youth Cup with a 2-0 defeat to Leicester City at Villa Park last night.