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Young: Focused on future

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• Aston Villa

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• Ashley Young

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• PFA Player of the Year
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Ashley Young is not the type of player to rest on his laurels.

The gifted Aston Villa forward has emerged as one of the leading young talents in the country this season with a series of sparkling displays.

Still only 22, Young displays a maturity both on and off the field which belies his age and suggests there is still much more to come.

The former Watford star, who moved to Villa in a £10million deal in January 2007, has certainly impressed his Premier League peers this season as he has been nominated for the Professional Footballers' Association Young Player of the Year Award.

The winner is due to be announced at a glittering ceremony in London on Sunday evening, and while Young knows he is up against the toughest competition imaginable, he is determined to continue learning from the best in the business and improving every aspect of his game.

With the irrepressible Cristiano Ronaldo nominated for both the main award and the young player honour, there is every chance that the Manchester United ace will claim a personal double.

But Young, speaking exclusively to skysports.com at a photo-shoot for the adidas F50 campaign, knows that he has time on his side and is dedicated to reaching the very pinnacle of his profession.

Dream

He said: "It was always my dream to play in the Premier League and luckily for me it's paid off and I'm loving every minute of it.

"I enjoy every game and I just want to keep learning and keep improving and hopefully I've got many more years ahead of me.

"I've always been a big fan of Lionel Messi. Words can't really explain what he's about. If you watch him you can see how good he is and well he's done, for such a young kid to do what he's done is just brilliant.

"I think you try and learn from any players that are doing well. With the amount of football that's on TV these days you get to see teams from all around the world.

"I try and pick up things from a couple of players and bring them into my game. You're always learning in training every day and I always want to improve myself."

To have his talents appreciated by the footballers he comes up against every week is an honour not lost on Young, but any defenders bamboozled by his quick feet and blistering pace should be warned he won't be standing still.

"It's nominated by your fellow professionals, so that in itself is big for me. It's a great feeling," he said. "Obviously I've been doing something well this season and the other players have seen that.

"I think I'm playing well. Throughout my whole career I've never said 'this is the best football I've played'. I always want to improve and get better. Things are going well for me at the moment and hopefully they'll continue to get better.

"I've always set myself goals and targets at the start of the season, but I always keep them to myself.

"Once they're ticked off in my head, then I'll know that I've achieved them. It changes from season to season, so there are always different ones and I think that'll happen for the rest of my career.

"I've ticked a few off this year and a few new ones have been added along the way."

Best performances

Young's talents have already been recognised by England boss Fabio Capello and predecessor Steve McClaren, and he certainly did his international ambitions no harm with his most recent display.

With Capello in the stands at Villa Park, Young turned in arguably his best performance for the Midlands outfit as he scored twice and set up another in the 5-1 derby demolition of bitter local rivals Birmingham.

And with the Italian proving he is keen to pick players on form rather than reputation, Young can do little more to press his claims, although he insists helping Villa into Europe is his primary focus.

He said: "I think it would be up there as one of my best performances in a Villa shirt. Being a derby as well, scoring two and having a hand in one of the other goals, I really enjoyed it.

"Everyone at the club was delighted and you only had to be in our changing room after the game to see what it meant. It was definitely one of the best games I've played in.

"I didn't even know the England manager was there. It's nice to be doing it in front of him. But I've always said all along that I'm concentrating on Villa.

"The last three games are vital for us to get into Europe. If I'm doing well at club level, then hopefully the England manager is noticing. That side of things will take care of itself."