Aston Villa academy chief Tony McAndrew rates the current squad as among the best he's had at the club.

He told avfc.co.uk: "Without going over the top and being sentimental, this is one of the best groups I've ever worked with in terms of being a unit and their togetherness.

"This season has been fantastic. If I'm being really picky, it would have been nice if we could have got somebody maybe on the bench or having a little sniff at a first-team place.

"That's what our job is. Let's not forget that is the job of the Academy - to try and give the manager the choice to pick young players. The aim is to save the club from splashing out millions and millions.

"Apart from that the season for the kids has been fantastic. We want to encourage people to be winners - not win at all costs but we want a winning attitude and a winning mentality."

McAndrew added: "It's all about improving the standards and we have no intention of dropping the standards at this football club - we want the standards higher.

"OK it was great to win the Premier Academy League but the benchmark is getting players available for our first-team.

"That's what we're always going to aim for and that's what we need to achieve. We feel it's slightly easier to produce better players if you're in a winning mentality."