Ashley Young was not waving goodbye – Gary McAllister insists Aston Villa will try and keep hold of coveted winger

Ashley Young, Aston Villa (Getty Images)

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After finishing the season with a 1-0 victory over Liverpool, Aston Villa caretaker manager Gary McAllister has declared that the club will try their hardest to keep Ashley Young, whilst he acknowledged interest in the wideman.

The England international has been strongly linked with moves to Liverpool and Manchester United as both sides look set for a summer of rebuilding, but McAllister has insisted the club will look to strengthen the side to persuade him to stay.

“People will think the Ashley Young thing he was substituted at death was staged but his calf was screaming and he had to come off,” he told reporters after the match. “It wasn’t a case of him waving goodbye because we’re still going to try and keep him.”

“We’ve got to keep trying to keep Young and maybe a couple of signings will help.

“There is interest in Young I’m sure because of the amount of speculation around him.”

Villa won in their final match of the season thanks to a solitary first-half goal from another reported Liverpool target, Stewart Downing following a Marc Albrighton cross, a result that leaves the Reds without European football next season.

Although this season has been viewed as a disappointment in the eyes of many Villa fans, McAllister, who is in temporary charge after Gerard Houllier was taken ill, thinks that the club finished on a high after some impressive form during the run-in.

“We’ve lost one in our last eight to finish on a bit of a high,” McAllister added.

“We’re up in the top half of the table and the top Midlands club, but now that we’re there and look at the top five or six teams going into Europe, you think, if only?

“That is where the frustration comes from. But, three or four months ago we were in amongst the other end of the table so there is a lot of praise for the players to dig themselves out of it.

“There was a rallying call then and the players responded.”

Following a season that failed to live up to the heights of previous years under Martin O’Neil, Villa will almost certainly be strengthening their squad in the summer, with some players set to move on.

McAllister has confirmed that Villa are already working on deals, saying that the chairman has been given the names of targets, whilst he has also given reassurance to supporters, claiming that Ashley Young could yet remain at Villa Park next season.

“It is a busy time,” he explained. “Everyone thinks we head off to the beach but there is loads of preparation that needs to be done.

“There have been lists of targets handed to the chairman and now is the time to bring people in who we think can improve Villa.

He continued: “There is a downside to that; there will be casualties for people who may not be in the plans.