Aston Villa midfielder Henri Lansbury has claimed his side want a “special season” in 2017-18 as he praised the calibre of the players in the club’s dressing room.
The Birmingham giants endured a difficult time in their 2016/17 Championship campaign as they finished in 13th-place a year after being relegated from the Premier League.
Lansbury, 26, joined the club in January following a £3million switch from Nottingham Forest, but his arrival did not have the desired impact and he struggled in the Claret and Blue.
He played 18 Championship games for Villa without scoring a goal or providing an assist, whereas in the first half of the season he bagged six league goals for Forest and supplied three assists.
However, the 26-year-old is in an upbeat mood ahead of next season, and he told the Birmingham Mail: “We want a special season, absolutely no question.
“It’s been a tough time for the supporters here for a few years now, obviously culminating in relegation.
“It would be fantastic for us to give them that season they’ve been craving. And I think we have the ability to do that.
“We have good players in that dressing room. The team spirit really is top quality. We’re a tight bunch and we really want to succeed. We have that hunger individually and collectively.
“I really think this pre-season gives us a great chance to gel as a group. I am confident. I feel good about things.”
The former Arsenal youngster make the breakthrough into the north Londoners’ senior squad in 2008, but he only featured eight times, and was sent out on loan to the likes of West Ham, Watford and Norwich before being sold to Forest in 2012.
Lansbury had been at Forest for four-and-a-half seasons prior to moving to Villa, and he had become a key player for the club, making 150 appearances in all competitions, scoring 33 goals and providing 20 assists.
Villa manager Steve Bruce will hope Lansbury will recover the form of his Forest days next term, and be a leading light in his side who will look to win promotion to the Premier League next term.