Colin Calderwood sees squad unity as key for Aston Villa success

The summer arrivals of John Terry, Glenn Whelan and Ahmed Elmohamady means Villa have one of the strongest squads in the Championship.

Calderwood, who has experience of building a promotion-winning unit from his time assisting Chris Hughton at Brighton, admits it is imperative for everyone to be pulling in the same direction.

To that extent, he and boss Steve Bruce took encouragement in Carabao Cup win over Wigan, in which Villa fielded a team of youngsters and senior players battling to get into the first XI in the league and ran out 4-1 winners with both groups impressing.

“The second year at Brighton was a terrific one and built on solid management and togetherness in the group,” said Calderwood.

“What happened was that everyone felt involved. That definitely helps. Tuesday’s result helps everyone a bit.

“Of course there will be disappointment at the weekend for some but we are going to need a number of them through the season and not just 11 or 12 to be challenging.”

Calderwood worked with Hughton before joining Villa last November, with the Seagulls going on to gain promotion to the Premier League six months later.

The 52-year-old had a brief stint at Villa Park during the latter stages of his playing career and is enjoying the challenge of helping Steve Bruce rebuild the club.

“I haven’t found it too different to how I thought it would be,” said Calderwood.

“We certainly want to be at the right end of the table at the right time of the year. It’s exactly the job I thought it would be.

“I am enjoying the environment and enjoying the club. I had only a limited time here as a player, not much more than a year. I am hoping it is a bit longer this time.”