It’s ‘highly unlikely’ that Aston Villa winger Leon Bailey is going to force his way back into Steven Gerrard’s starting XI in the near future, according to journalist Dean Jones.

The Villans have turned their form around in recent weeks after pulling off back-to-back victories, meaning Gerrard is highly unlikely to change his winning formula anytime soon.

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Former manager Dean Smith was relieved of his duties back in November following a run of five consecutive defeats in the Premier League.

He had overseen a sizeable spending spree in the summer, with Danny Ings, Emiliano Buendia and Bailey charged with replacing talisman Jack Grealish after he completed a British-record £100 million move to Manchester City.

It was Bailey’s £25m arrival from Bayer Leverkusen that perhaps caused the most excitement, though, given his reputation and previous exploits in the Bundesliga.

In 156 appearances for Leverkusen, the Jamaica international registered 39 goals and 26 assists across all competitions and earned rave reviews from sporting director Rudi Völler after just 12 months at the club.

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“He's an unusually quick, very tricky player who will give our attack an additional boost,” said Völler.

However, injuries have significantly reduced Bailey’s playing time and productivity during his short stay with Villa, limiting him to just four Premier League starts and three goal contributions to date.

What has Jones said about Bailey?

Following a run of one victory in eight games, Gerrard switched from a 4-3-3 formation to a 4-3-1-2, earning convincing wins over Brighton and Southampton as a result.

Bailey played just 12 minutes against the Saints as a substitute and failed to come off the bench at all versus the Seagulls, and Jones believes he will have to get used to a fringe role in the ‘short term’.

In an exclusive interview with GiveMeSport, he said: “It's highly unlikely that he’s going to force his way back into the reckoning in the short term.”

Is Bailey being harshly treated?

Bailey has shown glimpses of his true potential since arriving at Villa Park, but a thigh problem has prevented him from building any momentum on English shores.

Nevertheless, the flying attacker’s underlying numbers have still been impressive, indicating he perhaps has a right to feel slightly disappointed by his limited game time.

As per FBref, Bailey has ranked in the 96th percentile for dribbles completed, 93rd for assists and 83rd for non-penalty goals amongst players in the same position over the last year.