Allback's Rallying Cry

Marcus Allback expects an ¡¥aggressive¡¦ new-look Villa to restore Claret and Blue pride next season.

And the Swedish international striker aims to be at the forefront of the David O¡¦Leary era ¡V carrying on where he left off last season.

Allback hopes to get a run-out in tonight¡¦s first pre-season outing, as O¡¦Leary¡¦s men tackle Finnish outfit TPS Turku.

He returned to pre-season training last week and has been impressed with the way the new man at the helm has set out his stall.

He said: ¡§It¡¦s pretty clear how the manager wants us to play. He wants us to very aggressive. He wants us to start games at a high-tempo. So let¡¦s see if we can do that.

¡§We¡¦ve been running a lot, but you really need that physical fitness if we¡¦re going to play the way the manager wants us to. I think at the end of the season we¡¦ll see the benefit of all this hard work.¡¨

Reflecting on the managerial change, Allback added: ¡§Maybe we needed some change within the club. We were struggling and you can¡¦t just blame the manager for that. Of course we had a big responsibility there as well.

¡§But may we needed a new face. We had a tough season last year and, with the squad that we have, we shouldn¡¦t be ending where we did, in 16th.

¡§Now we have a new manager, which seems good. He has good ideas. His philosophy of football seems fine. So let¡¦s see what happens.

¡§Hopefully I can continue where I left off. It was a very good finish for me, after a very tough start and a very tough middle of the season.

¡§I played in the last six or seven games and it was important to go back to Sweden with that behind me.

¡§With Bosko Balaban back now, we have at least seven strikers ¡V fighting for two places. But I¡¦m used to that and it doesn¡¦t worry me.¡¨