Gary Gardner

A young central-midfield player who came up through the ranks with Aston Villa, signing his first professional contract in October 2009.

He went on to become a regular in the youth and reserve sides, showing some fine skills and scoring regularly before suffering a knee injury in December 2009, which brought his season to a premature end. Gary was back in action in 2010-11, featuring for the reserves and occasionally on the first-team bench as an unused substitute.

He made further progress in 2011-12, starring in the Villa team that reached the quarter-finals of the inaugural NextGen series in which he scored six goals including a hat-trick against Ajax. In November he joined Coventry City on loan, scoring on his senior debut at Brighton, and on his return to Villa Park he featured regularly in Barclays Premier League action, although he was often used from the bench.

Gary made his debut for England U21s against Israel in September 2011 and added further appearances as the season progressed.