By Dan Harrison

Sean Verity insists Villa must learn lessons from last month's clash against Celtic as they get set for the return fixture against the Glasgow outfit in the NextGen Series tonight.

Villa gave themselves a fighting chance of qualifying for the knockout stages by defeating Celtic 2-1 at Villa Park.

But coach Verity claimed his side's second-half display in the Group 4 encounter was below par.

And he wants to see a much-improved performance at the Firhill Stadium this evening [kick-off 7pm].

"We are in a miles better position than when we started against Celtic," said Verity.

"We won the game, which was great, but plenty of learning needed to go on.

"A positive result was always the most important thing. The way we went about in the first-half was very good.

"The second-half was the opposite of very good.

"They are young lads but they need to learn that you can't just play for 45 minutes.

"That isn't good enough, not for Aston Villa Football Club. It is something we need to work on."

Although Villa have yet to hit the same heights they reached in last season's NextGen Series, Verity believes the European U19 tournament is once again providing an invaluable learning experience.

"It is about putting them in the right positions so they learn," he added.

"That is why this competition is so good.

"The learning environment is massive for them with the manager watching and impressing on them what he actually wants. It is huge for them."

Make sure you're here to back the boys against Norwich City.