Aston Villa Academy: Hayden Lindley will look for loan suitors in January after cutting Newport County spell short

Sat 31 December 2022 12:10, UK

Aston Villa academy prospect Hayden Lindley saw his season-long loan spell at Newport County cut short and will now look likely for viable alternatives in January.

The 20-year-old’s summer move to Newport was his first loan spell since rising through the ranks at Villa Park, but after a promising start, things fizzled out as the Lindley was cut adrift from the first-team.

Under manager James Rowberry, the youngster made five appearances, but ever since the Newport boss was sacked in October he hasn’t had a look in, with Aston Villa quickly announcing he would return to Bodymoor Heath ahead of the New Year.

#NCAFC can confirm that Hayden Lindley, Thierry Nevers and Chanka Zimba will return to their parent clubs when the transfer window re-opens in January.

We thank them for their contributions to the club and we wish them the best for the future!https://t.co/WLtGz2cvMY pic.twitter.com/Dk0S7Kdc0L
— Newport County AFC (@NewportCounty) December 29, 2022

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Whether new man Graham Coughlan wanted to go with more experience to push the Exiles up the League 2 table is still unknown, but in recent weeks the Aston Villa loanee has been turning out for the club’s youth sides, instead of his desired first-team football.

Lindley is highly regarded by the Villa hierarchy after captaining the Under-23s to FA Youth Cup victory in 2021 – a side that contained the likes of Louie Barry, Arjan Raikhy and £20million Chelsea man Carney Chukwuemeka.

In the same year, the midfielder made his first-team bow in the FA Cup against Liverpool, coming on as a 66th-minute substitute against the Premier League giants, and showing his potential.

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While naturally a defensive midfielder, Hayden has shown great versatility coming through the Villa academy, featuring as both a right-back and a centre-back last season.

Loans manager Mile Jedinak will now look to get the Huddersfield-born ace into another first-team environment as he looks to thrust the youngster into the trials and tribulations of lower-league football.

As the likes of Raikhy and Terriers loanee Kaine Kesler-Hayden have learnt, there is no better place to learn your trade, and Lindley will hope a successful second half to the season will await at a new club.

In other Aston Villa news, Rachel Daly and Kenza Dali have shone for the Women’s side, but the goalscoring burden must be taken off their shoulders in the second half of the season.