Mile Jedinak tells Aston Villa to be ready for a battle
Midfielder Mile Jedinak has warned Villa to be braced for a battle if they want to win promotion next season.
The 32-year-old reckons as many as a dozen clubs could be in the hunt and acknowledges Villa must significantly improve on this year’s performance, when they could only finish 13th in the standings.
“We have to take the next step now,” said Jedinak. “We’ve had a taste of it this year but next year, a taste is not good enough. We have to go a bit further."
Jedinak was one of 16 players signed by Villa in their first season following relegation from the Premier League. The Australian international believes the squad has no excuses for not being ready for the challenge which awaits next term.
"This season was indifferent," he said. “That’s Championship football for you and getting to know what it takes to get through it.
“There’s a dozens team that are always pushing to try to get promoted.
“Us having just gone down last season and coming into this division now are always going to be tipped to go back up straight away. We realised quite quickly that it doesn’t always happen like that.
"I’ve seen the group grow, not only as individuals but as a playing squad.
"We now know what it takes to win football games in this division. I don’t think we are under any illusions that it’s going to be easy.
“It never was and it never should be.
“But, going forward, you want to see people take all of that on board and bring even more next season to try and build this club and get it to where it should be."
