Aston Villa winger Ashley Young keen to sign new contract
Jul 20 2010 by Mathew Kendrick, Birmingham Mail
“I’m delighted with how things have gone.
“I’ve enjoyed my time here, I’ve learned a lot since I’ve come in and I’ve got a lot more to learn.”
Young kick-started his pre-season campaign with a wonder goal to open the scoring in last night’s 3-2 victory over Peterborough at London Road.
And the 25-year-old admits that the preparations are vital as the claret and blues try to eclipse last season’s achievements.
“We’ve got lots of pre-season games to go,” said Young, who played in a more advanced attacking role alongside John Carew.
“It’s always nice when you’re coming up to the last two weeks of your holidays that you start thinking about the season.
“Everybody just wants to get back into it. Pre-season’s always tough but as long as you get your fitness up and keep on working then you get your rewards.
“The boys are getting their fitness there and it showed here, we’re trying to feel our way into it and we’ll be looking forward to the start of the season.
“Of course we always set ourselves targets at the start of the season.
“We always look to do better than we did last season. We’re going to sit down before the season and hopefully, fingers crossed, we’ll do that.
“We did a lot last season and it was a great season for us, obviously it’s going to be tough.
“But things don’t come easy in life, there are always obstacles in the way and you just have to get through it.”
Despite last season’s disappointments in missing out on the Carling Cup, FA Cup and a top-four place at an advanced stage, Young insists Villa’s team spirit is stronger than ever.
“I think we’ve got a lot of motivation within the camp,” he added.
“If you look at the boys’ team spirit, from the players and the management staff, everyone’s pulling in the same direction.
“As long as we’ve got that off the pitch we can take that on to the pitch and look forward to a good season.
“All last season we had the team spirit and look how far it got us.”
