By Paul Brown

Ron Vlaar hopes Villa fans will "go crazy" with excitement this season.

Vlaar has made no secret of his thoughts on the importance of supporters to the team.

Vlaar sees them as the lifeblood of the club and vital in terms of lifting the lads throughout each 90 minutes.

He said: "The fans are very important!

"We have to give them signals on the pitch and they can shout and go crazy for us. Then we will be hard to beat.

"We have to play as a team. That's vital. If you don't play like a team, it's hard to win games.

"We have to fight together and get a good spirit. That's the same as the relationship with the crowd.

"If that works, I believe we will be a hard team to beat, especially at home.

"We want to do our best in every game. We train very hard to get better every day. We try our best.

"I believe we have a lot of qualities in the group and it has to happen on the pitch and we have to do it together.

"I really look forward to it. I am really confident that we can do a lot better this season."

Vlaar once again reiterated his desire to follow in the footsteps of crowd favourite Paul McGrath.

He added: "Of course I hope to be close to him. Paul is a real Villa legend. I know that.

"If I am half as good as he was, it would be fantastic for me.

"I want to improve in every game. That's the most important thing. I can't do that alone. The crowd are very important too. We have to make Villa Park a place where it is very hard to beat us."

Click here to listen to Vlaar's thoughts on the fans.

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