Aston Villa manager Dean Smith admits there's been no discussion about a permanent deal for Ross Barkley.
The on-loan Chelsea midfielder was the matchwinner at Southampton yesterday.
Smith said, “There's never been any discussions about signing him permanently. We contacted Chelsea at the start of the season to take him a season-long loan and we're thankful to Chelsea that they allowed him to come here. He's played football and he's playing with a smile on his face and enjoying his games at the moment.
“He's not 100 per cent yet [after injury], but he's getting there. He's actually played more minutes than he's had training minutes over the last 12 weeks. Because we were all in self-isolation, he was back to fitness but couldn't do any group training so he's having to get his fitness back during matches.
"He got 90 minutes tonight so he's getting better and better and it was a superb header today."
