Young looks on the bright side

ASHLEY YOUNG has come to symbolise Aston Villa’s tumultuous season, his early-term sparkle having long since rubbed off to leave nothing but faded memories.

Like everyone else at Villa Park, the England winger is acutely aware of the sense of anti-climax surrounding the club’s campaign, which for so long promised to end with qualification for the Champions League — the supposedly impossible dream in the era of the ‘Big Four’.

But Young believes Aston Villa still have reason to be cheerful, as they remain on course to finishing fifth in the table after claiming sixth last year.