Laursen urges Villa to spend
26 May 2008 - 13:25:47
Aston Villa defender Martin Laursen has urged the club's board to back manager Martin O'Neill in the summer transfer market.
The Denmark international played in all 38 of Villa's Premier League games during the season just ended as the Midlands club secured European football via the Intertoto Cup.
But Laursen hopes O'Neill is given funds to bolster a squad light on numbers during the close season as they look to improve on their sixth-placed finish.
"It's very nice to be back in Europe again. We're very happy with this and I think it sums up our season. We deserve it," he said.
"The requirement is to get good players and they're not cheap.
"We have proved we can do very well with a small group of players and this squad has a lot of potential.
"So we need some more quality players and, if we qualify for the UEFA Cup, then we need some more players because it won't be enough just to have 16 players.
"We haven't had any injuries and if we're going to play in Europe that would be a big ask as well because a lot of us have international games too."