Aston Villa chairman Randy Lerner says the Premiership will suffer if England fail to qualify for the European Championships next year.

Villa's American owner knows the money men behind the other 19 top-flight clubs are likely to be cheering at the thought that their top players will not be risking injury next summer.

But Lerner said: "The success of the England team and the club game are knitted together and we should not lose sight of that. "Do I care about the wellbeing of the English national team? Of course I do. England doing well is all part of the package that makes the club game successful."