After a season of struggle under Gerrard Houllier, Aston Villa were expected to progress into the top 10 this season.

However, things have not gone exactly to plan after the arrival of new manager Alex McLeish from Birmingham City.

Alex McLeish was never the favourite amongst the Villa supporters due to his connections with Birmingham City, but Aston Villa board decided to go ahead with the appointment anyway. So far, Aston Villa have not made any progress in the Premier league and have also been knocked out of the cup competitions as well.

Despite this, Aston Villa youngster Marc Albrighton has said that Aston Villa are looking to progress in the table and are not concerned about the threat of relegation.

Alex McLeish of Aston Villa has let out the reasons why he was so keen on signing a quick loan deal for Robbie Keane - he feels that Keane is highly motivated in his approach and can help to bring about a change to the Villa team, and get the team fired up the prem table.

Robbie Keane is probably going to be signed for a two month loan deal so he is likely to play in six premier league games.

As yet, there is no commitment from any one at the Aston Villa end as no-one wants to give their final word until the entire deal is seen through. As of now, people are speculating that the entire transfer deal will be around 500 thousand pounds (including the amount for the wages, insurance and the loan fee). The deal should be finalized latest by next week.