Aston Villa's flying winger Ashley Young is determined to do anything he can to help the club break into the Premier League top four this season, and desire like that has to be welcomed.

The winger arrived at Villa from Watford for £9.6 million in January 2007, a fee many football fans baulked at, but he has since gone on to prove he is worth every penny.

During his first 18 months with the club he was an all-round success, but he endured a hit-and-miss campaign last season as Villa finished sixth despite battling for a place in the Premier League top four for long parts of the season.

Young played in a central attacking position just off John Carew when Villa beat Peterborough in a pre-season friendly earlier this week. He scored one wonder goal and set up another despite not playing in his usual wide role.

He has told the Birmingham Mail however he will play wherever he is needed for Villa, be it up front, off a big striker, on the right, on the left or even in the centre of midfield.

"Wherever the manager wants me to play I am happy to play there. As long as I am in the starting XI, that’s all that counts," the 25-year-old said.

Villa have never had the biggest squad and Martin O'Neill has worked hard to put together a quality group of young, predominantly English talent at Villa Park. They almost upset the Carling cup betting odds to win a trophy last season, and they should be in with a chance of challenging for silverware again.

In a modern day footballing world filled with multi-millionaires prepared to throw their toys out of the pram when things don't go their way, it is good to hear from Young that he would rather the team were successful that have his own personal glory.

However, the football betting suggests everyone in the side will have to take the same attitude in order to make a big impact.

If Villa are to take the step up and break into the Premier League top four they need to pull together as a unit and all fight united for the cause. Perhaps if Young can recapture his form of a couple of years ago and O'Neill makes a few more astute signings then Villa could surprise a few people yet again.