Former midfield favourite insists top six 'a big ask' for Aston Villa

Unai Emery’s side sit fifth in the table after an impressive start to the season, but Hendrie feels other sides will come on strong later in the campaign.

He said via the Proper Football podcast: “I’ve said this to a lot of Villa fans, I don’t get carried away. I think last season was really hard to judge. There were lots of teams that didn’t perform, Liverpool, Spurs, Chelsea.

“There were lots of teams that were off it last season. This season’s going to be different. I’d take a top-half finish. I don’t think we’ll finish in the top six. I really think that’s a big ask. Again, if they finished seventh, eighth, I think it’d be a really good season.

“I think it’s all about this progression that Villa need to sort of establish.

“I think that Unai will bring the players in and they will sort of progress on that. But I don’t think they’re going to end up finishing in the top six this season by any stretch.”