Aston Villa’s speedy Ashley Young is over the moon at the moment, after scoring his first goal for England in their recent 2-1 win over Denmark. He spoke to us about the pressures on managers, what makes him happiest, and where you’d be able to find him hiding if you visited his house.

This season’s been a bit disappointing for Villa so far. What’s it been like from your point of view?

Everybody at the club has been disappointed, especially when we were in the bottom three. This is a massive club and we don’t think that we should be down there. But we haven’t performed, and sometimes you just don’t get the rub of the green.

Has it ever crossed your mind that Villa could go down?

No, we’re just positive all the time. Obviously it’s disappointing being down there, but it’s never been talked about that we’re going to get relegated. We’re thinking positive and thinking about getting ourselves back up the table.

What do you think your team-mates would say is the most annoying thing about you?

They’d probably say that I’m a bit too lively! I’m just hyperactive, every day.

Do you find it easy to stay confident in life as well as football? 

Yeah, all the time. I think that’s just the type of character that I am, I’m always positive about things. That’s why some of the boys might say it’s one of my negative points, if they’re feeling down and I’m just buzzing round the place!

There are a few young players coming through for Villa this season. How do you think they’ve done so far?

It’s a big difference for them, coming from playing reserve team football to jumping straight into the first team, but I think they’ve handled themselves really well. The likes of Marc Albrighton, Ciaran Clark and Barry Bannan have all had to step up to the plate and I think they’ve done that really well. They’re all players that want to learn and want to better themselves, and as long as they’re listening to the seniors and taking everything on board, then I’m sure they’ll be players that can play in the Premier League.

Do you think fans and the media are too quick to demand a change of manager?

If you look at the managers that have been sacked lately, they’ve not had too many games to stamp their authority on the team. If you lose a few games, you’re on the edge because you think you’re gonna get the sack. Fans want to see their team winning, players want to see their team winning and the manager wants to see their team winning, but the players have to take some criticism for it as well, not just the managers.

If Villa has had a bad game, do you avoid watching things like Match of the Day or reading the Sunday papers?

You do watch it back on Match of the Day, but if I’ve had a bad game, I know exactly what I’ve done wrong and don’t need to watch it back.

A lot has been said since the World Cup about what can be done to improve the England team. What do you think?

There have been some changes since the World Cup, where the manager’s brought different players into the squad and freshened it up. But if you look at the campaign so far, it’s gone really well. I’ve got every faith that the manager knows exactly what he’s doing with the players that he’s got in the team and that we can progress out of the group stages and qualify for the Euros in 2012.

What three things make you happiest?

Family, playing football, and seeing my kid smiling.

What’s your favourite gadget in your house?

My games arcade. It’s got games from all the old consoles, like Atari, Super Nintendo and Mega Drive, and it’s got 500 games on it. I got it for Christmas and I’m hooked. If ever I’m in the house and anyone doesn’t know where I am, I’m always down playing that!

Ashley wears the adidas F50 adiZero Prime boots, which weigh just 150g per boot – light makes fast. Visit www.prodirectsoccer.com to get yours.