Aston Villa defender Ron Vlaar believes that he and his teammates have learned a lot from their experiences this year and feels they can push on next season.

The Villans finished 15th in the Premier League last season but their form picked up drastically towards the latter half of the campaign to lift them out of danger.

"It has been a good experience for all of us," Vlaar told the club's official website. "I am really looking forward to the new season because in the last few months we have really shown what we are capable of.

"We have a young team but the experience from this season we will take into next the next, I really look forward to it.

"In the past few months we have really shown what we are capable of. We did a lot better. We stepped up and got really good results especially against the teams around us. We only lost against teams at the top, I think we did really well."

Vlaar was made Villa captain just months after joining the club and made 35 appearances in all competitions for Paul Lambert's side.