Liam Ridgewell On Blues Link

Liam Ridgewell has spoken about the loan links to Birmingham City and says he is more interested in fighting to re-gain his place in the Villa first team.

The 22-year-old defender said of the rumour Potato Head wanted him at Small Heath: 'There was nothing in it as far as I know. Nobody got in touch with me about it, so as far as I know it was just talk. I can't control transfer talk and speculation and it certainly wasn't coming from me. I'm at Aston Villa and we'll see what happens over the next few months.'

Ridge has played 93 first team appearances but has found himself on the bench in recent weeks and has dropped down to the reserves to keep match fit.

He added on the official site: 'I'm striving to get back in the side and obviously disappointed to be out of it. I've lost my place before and forced my way back in, so it's up to me to get back into the starting 11 now. It's a test of character and I'm determined to come through it. It's not only me. There's plenty of competition now, so there's suddenly a few people trying to get into the team. That'll make it interesting over the next few months.'

On the 3-1 reserves win v Charlton he added, 'It was good to get 90 minutes for the reserves. I needed that for my match fitness and even though I'd sooner be playing for the first-team, I've got no problems with playing for the reserves. This is where I came through a few years ago and there were quite a few senior players involved last night. We all put in a performance to help the kids coming through and we're all determined to get back into the first-team.'

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