Young focused on England, not Villa future

Aston Villa winger Ashley Young refused to be drawn on his future at Villa Park ahead of England’s Euro 2012 qualifier against Switzerland.

The 25-year-old has been widely linked with a big-money move to English Premier League rivals Liverpool or Manchester United.

But speaking after England’s training session in London on Tuesday, he said his thoughts were focused firmly on his country’s crucial match with Switzerland at Wembley.

“To be honest I’ve not heard anything come out of the club officially so I’m not too sure what’s been going on,” Young said.

“I’m away with England and that’s what I’ve been concentrating on. We’ve got a massive game on Saturday and that’s where my thoughts are.”

“I’ve said I’ll speak to the manager and chairman at the end of the season. I’ve got to concentrate on this game and then we’ll see what happens regarding talking to them after this game.”

Young did, however, say he was behind Frenchman Gerard Houllier staying on at Villa, after it was widely reported the 63-year-old had parted ways with the Birmingham club.

When asked if he hoped the Frenchman would stay on, Young replied: “Yeah of course, he’s done great since he’s come in.”

“It’s been a difficult season for us but hopefully, fingers crossed, things will get sorted with him, with his health.”

Young also admitted that the absence of the suspended Wayne Rooney on Saturday would be a major blow for England.

“Wazza’s (Rooney) a great loss, but we’ve got a lot of players in the squad to come in and play in his position,” he said.

“I’m sure the boys are raring to go and looking for the opportunity to get themselves in the team and get that starting place.”

“There’s a lot of players fighting for positions and it’ll be a good week this week. We always meet up and have a good week before the games and everyone will prepare in the right way.”