Nigel Spink says Aston Villa need to find a replacement for wantaway goalkeeper Shay Given.

Villa's European Cup winning hero believes his old club must now recruit a competitive understudy to ensure Brad Guzan maintains his high standards.

"I'm not surprised really," Spink told the Sunday Mercury.

"Everybody knows Shay is a top goalkeeper.

"It would have been a great situation for the club to be in if they were able to keep him.

"It was probably a similar sort of situation when Mark Bosnich got in the team when I was still there, with my experience and all of that.

"I was there as back up and did get back into the team at time when Bozzie had blips and it probably would have been the same for Brad Guzan and Shay.

"It's difficult now because top goalkeepers are few and far between and to find somebody that's really going to push Brad on will be difficult."