Aston Villa boss Tim Sherwood says his stars need to toughen up

Aston Villa boss Tim Sherwood has warned his flair players to accept they will be targeted by opposition players.

Sherwood says players such as Adama Traore, Jack Grealish and Carles Gil need to toughen up to avoid collecting injuries but he has also demanded more protection from referees.

Grealish picked up an ankle injury in training recently, while club-record signing Traore injured his calf in the Capital One Cup match against Notts County.

"You can't cry about it," Sherwood said. "The boys certainly can't anyway. I can maybe cry about it and get them a bit more protection but the refs need to keep an eye out for that.

"Certainly when they're coming in from different leagues, this is the most physical league in the world so I think they need to get used to that body contact.

"We're not the only club with flair players around the Premier League. Sometimes the only way to stop them is to do it outside the laws of the game."

Sherwood said the focus of pre-season training sessions was on strength work and the new arrivals were quickly introduced to the rigours of the English league.

Meanwhile, transfer day signing and boyhood Villa fan Joleon Lescott says he is confident club captain Micah Richards can regain his place in the England place following a three-year absence from the squad.

"He can get back into that England squad, absolutely no doubt," Lescott, who previously played with Richards at Manchester City, told the club's website.

"There's a lot of talent there in the group. But if Micah Richards is fit, he has to be involved. There are a lot of good players out there but I don't see any players who do anything that Micah can't do."