Aston Villa

Despite the additions that have recently been made, it remains very much a work in progress under Steven Gerrard, but that is not to say that Villa supporters should be pessimistic at this stage of their development.

With the Villa academy having won the 2020-21 FA Youth Cup, many of those youngsters are in the process of earning first-team football on loan in an attempt to impress the Englishman.

Here, Sports Mole takes a look at how the prospects in question are faring during their time away from the West Midlands.

WHICH PLAYERS ARE FINDING IT BENEFICIAL?

The Villa youth setup has been blessed by two players named Ramsey who possess similar attributes, and Aaron is giving every indication that he will soon be joining Jacob in the senior ranks.

The 19-year-old has three assists from his last five outings for Norwich City in the Championship, making eight appearances in all, and the England Under-19 international can only be impressing Gerrard right now.

At 22 years of age, Finn Azaz may be past the point where he has a realistic shot of breaking into the Villa setup, but three goals from nine games for a solid Plymouth Argyle team may do the playmaker a world of good.

Tyreik Wright is operating further down the EFL pyramid, but a goal and assist on his first start for League Two side Bradford City bodes well for the future.

Left-back Ben Chrisene already has three starts to his name in the Scottish Premiership for Kilmarnock, and the 18-year-old will hope for more of the same over the coming weeks and months.

Jaden Philogene-Bidace has not been as successful at Cardiff City as he may have hoped, but the winger has still made five starts and three substitute outings in the Championship for the Bluebirds.

WHICH PLAYERS NEED MORE TIME?

Kortney Hause has spent a period of his time at Watford on the sidelines through injury, but the defender will build on his two starts and one substitute outing, potentially proving to be an asset for the Hornets in the second tier.

The same can be said for Tim Iroegbunam at Queens Park Rangers, but the expectation is that the young midfielder will earn regular game time under Michael Beale, someone who used to be on Gerrard's backroom staff.

As it stands, the 19-year-old has one start and two outings from the bench to his name, but Kaine Kesler-Hayden has six appearances to his name at Huddersfield Town, even if he did not feature in their win over Cardiff City last weekend.

WHO MAY NEED TO RETURN TO VILLA PARK IN JANUARY?

Even though Louie Barry is one of Villa's top prospects, he may have to return to his parent club in January having fallen down the pecking order at MK Dons.

The forward made three starts and three substitute outings before not featuring this month, and the League One side have since improved in his absence.

Caleb Chukwuemeka will hope to eventually make an impact in League Two, but the forward has featured for just 34 minutes across two matches in the fourth tier since his September 1 arrival.

Regardless of his lack of game time, Keinan Davis will be regarded as an asset by Watford, but the forward, who was a Championship playoff winner in 2021-22, will not be happy with one start and three substitute outings at this stage.