Ron Vlaar: 'Aston Villa must improve next season'

Aston Villa captain Ron Vlaar has told his teammates that they must improve next season after narrowly avoiding relegation from the Premier League.

The Villans secured their survival with two games left to spare thanks to a 3-1 win over Hull City.

However, Vlaar wants his side to start looking further up the table when they return to action in August.

"It needs to be better, one thing is for sure," the Dutchman told the club's official website. "The most important thing, though, is that we secured our Premier League status.

"It is frustrating. It is a hard fact we have to deal with. We have the summer to recover and start over again. You want to start to look at mid-table and build from that.

"That didn't happen this year either so we have to make some steps in our development as a team."

Villa finished the 2013-14 campaign five points above the drop zone in 17th place in the table.