Aston Villa boss Paul Lambert hopes Ron Vlaar eventually pens new terms.

Vlaar's future remains uncertain with his contract ticking down, but Lambert will continue to talk to his skipper.

He said: "He holds the ace card, as any player does when they are out of contract, but if we can keep talking let's see.

"Everyone assumes Ron and Fabian were going to go, we've got Fabian and we just need to keep it going now."

 For the big stories and the banter follow us on Twitter: @tribalfootball