Aston Villa boss Alex McLeish is under pressure to slash the wage budget of his squad.

The Sunday Mirror says McLeish has been told to cut his squad's average wage by £10,000-a-week per man.

Villa are unbeaten in the Premier League under McLeish, but despite the exits of Ashley Young, Stewart Downing, Brad Friedel, Luke Young, Nigel Reo-Coker and Jean Makoun, he remains under orders to cut the wage bill further still.

At present, the club's average wage for their first-team stars is still around £57,000-a-week.

Owner Randy Lerner wants to get the average down to a more manageable £46,000-a-week, as strict new financial fair play rules loom.