Aston Villa chief Tom Fox says they remain in new contract talks with their star players.

Skipper Ron Vlaar and last season's player-of-the-year Fabian Delph are both out of contract in the summer and Villa face a difficult task to keep hold of them.

"We're talking to both players," said Fox to the Birmingham Mail.

"Ron has been fantastic for us. We're looking forward to him coming back and contributing. Our conversations with him are on-going.

"It's the same with Fabian.

"It was really unfortunate that he got injured in training because he was having an absolutely fantastic start to the year. We continue to talk with him.

"He's a great young player who has been with us for seven years.

"We've worked very hard to develop Fabian.

"The fact that he is really starting to play to his potential is exciting for us because we've had a big role to play in that.

"We would love to keep him, he would be a big part of our club going forward."