Aston Villa captain Jack Grealish has targeted at least a top-10 finish in the Premier League this season.
Villa, who play at home against Leicester on Sunday, are currently eighth and Grealish admits that is more than he had hoped for after last season’s relegation scare.
“It’s been a better season than we expected. In our heads, we’re all looking at finishing as high as possible,” the England midfielder told Villa’s official website.
“Whether that be 10th, ninth, eighth, seventh – that’s where we should be aiming now in my opinion.
“We’re in a good place, we still have a few games in hand, but we have a few sticky games coming up now, which will obviously be tough.”
Following Sunday’s clash with Leicester, Villa head to Leeds and then take on Wolves at Villa Park.
“Leicester are one of the most in-form teams in the league at the moment and they’ve got great players all over the pitch,” Grealish said.
“We know how much of a tough game that will be, but we just need to take it one game at a time.”
Villa narrowly avoided an instant return to the Sky Bet Championship last season, finishing one place and a point above the bottom three.
But they made a flying start to the current campaign, winning their first four top-flight fixtures and have rarely been outside the top 10.
Grealish, who has scored six goals and made 12 assists, has been instrumental in Villa’s progress under boss Dean Smith and he wishes a full house at Villa Park on matchday had been there to see it.
“With us having one of the best seasons we’ve had for a while, it would have been lovely if the fans were here this season,” he added.
“There are plenty of players that are playing week-in-week-out and have never played at Villa Park with it half full, never mind when it’s packed out.
“I’ve told them all a fair bit about what it’s like, saying ‘wait and see what it’s like when it’s fully packed out’. Hopefully that can happen soon.”