Aston Villa boss Alex McLeish says there can be no doubting the commitment of chairman Randy Lerner.

Lerner's ties have been questioned of late, particularly as McLeish has stuck faithfully to the party line that the books must be balanced and the wage-bill slashed.

McLeish maintained it was family ties that had prevented him from attending as many matches as he has done in previous seasons.

"I've had lunch with the chairman," he said. "He wants us to keep pushing as hard as we can to climb the league.

"Obviously the higher you get the revenue goes up, but at the same time we know that it's difficult to set any targets for this season in what remains transitional.

"He is committed. But he also has business and family in America which is preventing him a little bit from getting to games.

"But we're seeing more of him in midweek when his kids are at school and things like that. As far as I can see, he's madly in love with Aston Villa Football Club.

"Invariably it's midweeks, when we've got games at weekends it's generally when he's got commitments with the kids and stuff. He is over here at the moment, for example."