Aston Villa winger Marc Albrighton is set to drop down to the Championship and join Derby County on loan, according to the Daily Mirror.

Albrighton has fallen down the pecking order at Villa Park, and doesn't feature in manager Paul Lambert's immediate plans.

The Scot is happy to let the winger move on in order to get some game time, and Derby boss Nigel Clough is set to offer him an escape route.

Clough has made an enquiry about the 23-year-old and is awaiting a response from Villa, although he remains confident of sealing a deal for the former youth star.

Derby are desperate to add reinforcements during the loan window, after losing Jeff Hendrick, and possibly star midfielder Will Hughes to injuries for several weeks.

Albrighton is something of Villa Park's forgotten man. He broke into the first team in 2009 under Martin O'Neill, and was a regular under both Gerard Houllier and Alex McLeish.

Despite being popular with the fans, Albrighton has struggled for first team football under Lambert and has found himself out in the cold, despite Villa's struggles.

He was a bit-part player last season as the club narrowly avoided relegation, and is yet to break into Lambert's first team thoughts this season, despite Villa being 17th with 3 points from their opening four games, and on a run of three straight defeats.

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