Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard says the future of Keinan Davis will be assessed in the summer, as he continues to keep tabs on the striker’s form for Nottingham Forest.
Davis has quickly made an impact for the Reds after joining on loan on the first day of the January transfer window.
He has netted twice in seven appearances and put in an outstanding display in midweek at Blackburn Rovers, weighing in with a fantastic assist for James Garner’s opener in the 2-0 win.
With Lewis Grabban expected to be sidelined for two months, the 23-year-old can be a key player for Steve Cooper’s side in the remainder of the campaign - and plenty of Forest fans have already expressed a wish for him to stay beyond that.
Gerrard has been updated regularly on Davis’ progress by Cooper, and dropped a hint that “a decision” on what happens with the front man longer term will be looked at once the season has finished.
“I’ve had a conversation with Steve Cooper as well,” Gerrard told BirminghamWorld.
“Steve is brilliant at updating you with progress and the type of work that he is obviously continuing with Keinan.
“Steve has given him the opportunity to play regular games which is what he needed.
“Keinan is at an age where he hasn’t really posted consecutive numbers in terms of appearances or goals throughout his career yet.
“He’s obviously a big talent but it would have been probably the wrong decision to hold him back and keep him here to compete with Ollie (Watkins) and Danny (Ings) in the No.9 position as there’s no guarantee he would have got the game time that he needs at this stage in his career.
“We’re hoping he can stay healthy, he can continue knocking the appearances out and keep adding goals and really help contribute to Forest finishing the season strong - and again, like Cam (Archer), he will come away with us on pre-season, we will give him opportunities, we will see where he’s at and we’ll make a decision from there.
“But listen, we won’t stand in anyone’s way in terms of people we feel need football and a different challenge at that time, but they are very much Aston Villa players that are representing our club and we wish them all well.”
