Preston North End track Aston Villa striker's progress in the England Under-21 squad

Off the back of an impressive loan spell with PNE, striker Archer was named in the England Under-21 squad for the first time.

Two matches in and things are going well for the 20-year-old Aston Villa man, with last Friday’s debut in the Czech Republic followed by him scoring in Tuesday night’s 3-0 win over Albania.

He’ll be on duty again on Friday against Kosovo in Prishtina, and again on Monday when Slovenia visit Huddersfield’s John Smith’s Stadium.

Beating Albania at Chesterfield’s Technique Stadium saw the young Lions qualify for next year’s European Championships, a tournament which Archer no doubt will aim to feature in.

Hopefully any involvement next summer will come after spending the 2022/23 season on loan with North End.

They want Archer back at Deepdale for the full campaign to build on the half-season or so he’s just had in a Lilywhites shirt.

There’s no guarantee he will come back, the ball is firmly in Villa’s court on that score as they plot what is best for the next stage of Archer’s career.

It will be during pre-season when a decision is made, meaning PNE will have to have to have two sets of plans in place – either with Archer on board or someone else filling an attacking space in the squad.

That is something of a gamble, some of pre-season and potentially even the early stages of the season, being a wait and see scenario.

North End manager Ryan Lowe sees it as a gamble worth taking, knowing he has a chance of landing a player again for who he has so much admiration.

When in charge at Plymouth he had tracked Archer, kept an eye on his progress when the lad was on loan at Solihull Moors.

Lowe watched him break into the first-team picture at Villa early last season, playing in the Carabao Cup and coming off the bench a few times in the Premier League.

The thinking will be that Archer can fit straight back in at Preston, he’ll know most of his team-mates, the coaching staff, the surroundings at Deepdale and Euxton.

Cameron Archer on target for England Under-21s against Albania