Aston Villa boss Dean Smith not expecting January call from Chelsea for Tammy Abraham

The 21-year-old’s strike in Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Preston was his 14th in just 19 appearances since joining Villa from Chelsea in August.

Abraham’s electric form had led to questions over his future, with Chelsea having the option to recall him during the January transfer window amid Premier League interest.

But Smith does not believe that will be the case, stating: “Chelsea have got an option but we haven’t heard from them. From what we believe, they don’t want to (recall him).

“He’s enjoying his football, developing as a player and they seem very happy with him here.”

Knowing Abraham is sticking around will boost a Villa team who, despite still being the Championship’s second highest scorers, have lost some of their spark due to the absence through injury of playmaker Jack Grealish.

Abraham headed them in front at Deepdale with his only real chance of the game. But not for the first time this season, Villa were unable to maintain the advantage, having to settle for a point following Ahmed Elmohamady’s second-half own goal.

The result saw Villa fall five points behind the top six ahead of tomorrow’s home game with QPR and a disappointed Smith said: “We didn’t deserve to win with the amount of big chances we gave away.

“Defensively, we weren’t great. On the ball, we weren’t great.

“We are disappointed in the manner of which we gave away big chances.

“I thought we were very sloppy on the ball, too, which we are normally good at.”

He continued: “Tammy keeps showing quality. One minute you think he’s tiring then he shows a bundle of energy, running into the corner, chasing down centre-halves, closing it down, so he’s doing very well for us.

“He scored again and I think he would have got a penalty had he not scored it because the lad has pulled him back anyway.”