Hughes: No split in Villa camp
Aaron Hughes has insisted the Aston Villa dressing room is not split despite a season of under-achievement in the Premiership.
David O’Leary’s side had been expected to be challenging for a top-half spot after finishing sixth and 10th respectively in the previous two campaigns.
Instead they have been lingering in the bottom six for the majority of the campaign and it needed Sunday’s derby win over Birmingham to make sure they would not be sucked into a relegation battle.
There has been speculation about a divided camp but right-back Hughes is adamant the squad are united behind O’Leary.
Hughes said: “It has been a frustrating season. It’s been up and down. We are as frustrated as everyone else because we know what we are capable of.
“Everyone expects this club to be finishing higher because of the players we’ve got here. That’s why it’s frustrating for everyone – including myself - that we haven’t done as well as we should have.
“There have been some days where it hasn’t happened for us, and you scratch your head, and some days when we have been really good.
“We’ve had a lot of games this season, especially at home, where we’ve played quite well but haven’t finished team off. Let them stay in the game and they’ve gone onto take the points.”
Hughes added: “We have been aware things were being said. There have been rumours that the dressing room is split.
“But I can assure you we’ve got a strong dressing room, everyone is pulling in the same direction and everyone wants us to do well.
“What we have got to do is produce the good days more often. Let’s get to the end of the season and finish as high as we can and see how things go in the summer and start afresh for next season.”
