Tyrone Mings makes 'tough' Aston Villa admission after England snub

Aston Villa captain Tyrone Mings admitted it has been a “tough” season for the club in a thank you message to supporters.

The England defender missed just two league games this term as Vila ended the campaign in 14th. Despite contributing to 11 clean sheets this term, the 29-year-old alluded to the fact that the team still have plenty of room for improvement.

Villa have been quick off the mark in the summer transfer window, signing Philippe Coutinho permanently from Barcelona and bringing in Boubacar Kamara from Marseille. With plenty of time to go before deadline day, fans are almost certain to be welcoming a few more new faces to Bodymoor Heath before next season.

Despite continuing to be at the heart of Villa’s defence and having produced solid performances on the international stage, Mings was omitted from Gareth Southgate’s latest England squad. However, while thanking Villa fans for their support, the 29-year-old said he was looking forward to a break.

Writing on Twitter, he said: “After a tough ending to a tough season I just wanna thank everyone associated with @AVFCOfficial for your support. Work has started on making sure we’re better prepared & better equipped for next season already, but for now… I can’t wait for a rest. See you all soon”

Having earned 17 caps, the defender scored his second goal for his country in his most recent game against Ivory Coast. The Villa skipper has been a fixture of Southgate’s squad since making his debut in 2019 and the England manager has discussed the thinking behind his decision .

Southgate said: "I talked in March about wanting to look at some of the younger centre-backs coming through and I just think those guys (Fikayo Tomori and Marc Guehi) have had