Aston Villa players will want Premier League season completed, insists Lee Hendrie
Thursday 19 March 2020 13:28, UK
Former Aston Villa midfielder Lee Hendrie insists the club's players will want to earn their status in the Premier League next season, as questions remain over whether this season will be completed.
It was announced on Thursday that the suspension of football in England had been extended until at least April 30 in response to the coronavirus pandemic, but the FA announced the 2019/20 season would be extended indefinitely.
West Ham vice-chairman Karren Brady caused controversy when she recently suggested this season should be declared "null and void" if it cannot be finished - an outcome which would deny league leaders Liverpool their first Premier League title.
Aston Villa sit second from bottom but have a game in hand over their relegation rivals which, should they win, would lift them out of the bottom three.
"I feel that the lads will want to get back out there and try and get out of that relegation zone, there is no doubt about it," Hendrie said.
"It has been a tough season for Aston Villa, it really has. On the flip side, they have been to a Cup final with a defeat against Manchester City.
"The main priority this season is to stay in the Premier League."
Villa spent £144.5m on 12 players following their promotion from the Championship, but a difficult return to the top flight has seen them win just seven on their 27 league games so far this season.
Hendrie believes the extended break from football will make Dean Smith's side hungrier if and when the season resumes.
"It's a massive club that has found it hard being in the Championship and getting back into the Premier League, but sitting in that relegation zone at the moment I think they will be pretty much like every Premier League club," Hendrie added.
"They will want to see this season through and maintain Premier League status at the moment.
"It is going to be a difficult one but, with the game in hand [and] with the teams in and around them it could be anyone out of the bottom six. It is such a tight-knit group."
With Liverpool just two wins away from their first league title in 30 years, Hendrie believes Jurgen Klopp's side will not expect to be handed the title but will instead want to earn the remaining points needed to be crowned champions.
"They [Liverpool] thoroughly deserve to win the league and be champions, but to just be handed the trophy doesn't seem right and doesn't seem fair," Hendrie said.
"I think they would want the game to be fulfilled, where they know they have actually gone and done it in the correct manner; they have won their games and they have won fair and square.
"The league has to be finished so there are no qualms and no squabbles about Liverpool being champions of the league."
