Jonathan Hogg Off To Portsmouth On Loan Until End Of Season

Jonathan Hogg is heading to Championship side Portsmouth on loan until the end of the season, leaving Aston Villa with one less midfielder to apportion minutes to. Hogg is one of the Villa babies who extended their contracts this season, so he's signed with AVFC until June 2013. The loan should give him some decent first team experience and give him a chance to help a club stay up, as Pompey, still recovering from last year's Premier League financial woes, are just five points clear of the relegation zone.

The real question, however, is how players like Barry Bannan, Marc Albrighton, Chris Herd and Ciaran Clark are going to get by without Hoggy. I don't recall interviews with those players that don't mention him. Will they be inconsolable? Will their form suffer?

And how will the Aston Villa reserves fare now that Andy Weimman is off to Watford and Hogg is headed to Portsmouth? After all, they scored three goals against the Arsenal reserves - but I guess when your team scores ten altogether, you can let the boys head off to other pitches.

Best of luck, Hoggy. Come back even better.