Zat Knight is determined to establish himself as a first-choice at Aston Villa next season.

The defender told avfc.co.uk: "It was hard being out of the team. But I know how football works and Curtis did well when he came in. I just had to bide my time.

"Curtis had to wait for a few months before he got his chance. All of a sudden it was my turn to be on the bench and it was a tough couple of months. But I learned from that. I've never been a sub in my career. It was a learning curve and I think I took it quite well.

"Up to Christmas everything was going well - for me and for the team. But then I got suspended and on a personal note it went downhill for a while. I was out for 10 or 11 games and then came back in. I think I had a bit of a shaky start when I came back but once I got my feet under the table again I felt it went well.

"It's quite nice to know I was always involved when we kept clean-sheets last season. We had a long spell where we didn't keep clean-sheets and it was quite frustrating being stuck on the touchline. But to come back in and get a few more clean-sheets was quite pleasing."