Aston Villa recalling their 26-year-old prospect from his loan spell would solve a key issue and also boost promotion hopes

Why Aston Villa should recall Jed Steer in the January window

According to a report in Birmingham Mail, Championship club Aston Villa have an option of recalling goalkeeper Jed Steer from Charlton Athletic when the transfer window reopens. The 26-year-old is currently out on loan with the League One side and has played 14 times for them.

Steer started the season as Villa’s keeper in the game against Hull City. Eventually, under the tutelage of Steve Bruce then, he was shipped out on a temporary deal to the Red Robins. Now with doubts surrounding the abilities of Orjan Nyland in certain games, the Birmingham-based club could recall their on-loan shot-stopper sooner than they would have expected to. (Birmingham Mail)

The 26-year-old arrived at the Villa Park in 2013 from Norwich City, but hasn’t been able to stamp his authority in his position. He has plenty of loan opportunities out to Huddersfield Town, Yeovil Town, Doncaster Rovers and now Charlton Athletic.

He has kept four clean sheets in 14 appearances for the latter and look a much more secured keeper.

Why Jed Steer needs to be recalled

After a low-key start to their season, Aston Villa have recovered well under new manager Dean Smith. They are now eighth in the table ahead of a crunch period of games, while two months back, they were looking downwards rather than upwards. The Villans have 32 points and are now only four points behind the playoff spots for Premier League promotion.

The team has picked up form and seem to have struck a system which is suiting every player in the squad. However, the credibility of Nyland as a goalkeeper remains to be fulfilled. The Norwegian has probably made mistakes which not only shatters the confidence of the team but also makes a difference in the final result of a particular game.

The best example was the game against Nottingham Forest a few days ago. It ended in a bizarre scoreline of 5-5 at Villa Park. The home side played some good football, scored five goals, four of them coming from Tammy Abraham. But they let in five as well, out of which three were savable by the keeper.

Read More: Dean Smith signing this 19-year-old Premier League ace on loan would solidify Aston Villa’s chances of promotion

This is where the criticism rises that a team scoring five goals at home is not able to win that particular game. Hence, they need to recall Steer in January and stick him in goal if promotion hopes are to be kept alive come May.