Gary Cahill pays tribute to Aston Villa

Gary Cahill has paid tribute to the youth system at Aston Villa for the part it played in helping him to make his first competitive appearance for England.

The defender scored in England's 3-0 win over Bulgaria, which helped them move clear of Montenegro at the top of Group G and a step closer to Euro 2012.

Cahill is set to keep his place in the starting line-up for tonight's qualifier with Wales at Wembley, where he will partner Chelsea's John Terry at the heart of England's defence.

The 25-year-old joined Villa as a teenager and went on to impress for the under-18 and reserve sides, before breaking into the first-team under then-manager David O'Leary.

His successor, Martin O'Neill, sold him to Bolton in January 2008 for £5million but Cahill admitted the club played a significant part in his development as a player.

He said: "I think the coaches at Villa through the youth system – Kevin MacDonald, Tony McAndrew and Gordon Cowans – helped a lot during those early years.

"They were fantastic and you can see over the last few seasons the amount of players they churn out from the academy there.

"I owe a lot to them. They gave me a platform and schooling from being 14 to when I got into the reserves.That was fantastic."