Reggae Boyz striker Omar Cummings has been denied a chance to join English Premier League team Aston Villa on loan, after reportedly not being granted a work permit by the UK Home Office.

The forward has been training with the team for the last two weeks, and by all accounts impressed Villa boss Gerard Houllier. However, it seems the Jamaican has fallen just short of making the requirements for securing the requisite documentation, which would have allowed him to ply his trade in England. According to Home Office rules, in order to automatically qualify for an automatic permit; 1. The player must have participated in at least 75% of his home country's senior competitive international matches where he was available for selection during the two years preceding the date of the application and; 2. The player's National Association must be at or above 70th place in the official FIFA World Rankings when averaged over the two years preceding the date of the application.

Jamaica's average FIFA ranking over the last two years, despite recently winning the Digicel Caribbean Cup, stands at 72. In fact in the January instalment of the global ratings, the Reggae Boyz dropped one place from 58th to 59th.

Aston Villa, who yesterday confirmed the signing of Sunderland striker Darren Bent for somewhere in the region of £24 million, had the option to appeal the decision, but are thought to be uninterested in doing so, due to the length of the appeal process. It is possible the club may renew their interest in the striker at a later date.

According to the Colorado Rapids official website, an agreement had been reached between both parties for the player to be loaned out until around March of this year, when the Major League Soccer season is scheduled to start. The English club is also reported to have had the option to make the move permanent, should they be adequately impressed, with the Americans slapping a £2 million price tag on the pacy front man.

disappointment

Despite the disappointment of having been unable to secure the loan move, the 28-year-old Cummings views his time at Villa in a positive light.

"The experience with Aston Villa is one that I'll remember for a long time," Cummings was quoted as saying on the clubs website. "I didn't get on the pitch but it was a pleasure to meet the guys and to play with them, and to get a little insight into life in the English Premier League."