Gary Gardner

Villa's coaching staff have held high hopes for Gary Gardner for some time - and the 2011-12 season saw him unleashed on the Barclays Premier League stage.

Gardner - the brother of former Villa star Craig - couldn't have picked a better game to make his top-flight debut.

His big moment arrived when Alex McLeish introduced him from the bench midway through the second-half during the stunning 3-1 victory over Chelsea on New Year's Eve.

A further cameo followed in the FA Cup against Bristol Rovers in January before the Solihull-born midfielder was handed a first start in the 3-2 success against Wolves at Molineux.

While biding his time for first team opportunities, Gardner continued to excel for the club's reserve and youth sides. #

He was prolific in front of goal for the second string and also skippered Villa during an impressive run in the NextGen Series.

Gardner scored five times in the group stages of the European U19 competition, including a memorable hat-trick against Ajax, as Villa topped Group 3.

In the same week as his exploits against the Amsterdam giants, he joined Coventry on a month-long loan deal.

It didn't take him long to make an impact at the Ricoh with a superb headed goal arriving nine minutes into his debut against Brighton.

Gardner has certainly made up for lost time after an anterior crucial ligament injury sustained in December 2009 brought his rapid progress to a standstill.

But he made a stunning comeback in January 2011.

His first official appearance of 2010-11 came as a substitute in a 3-0 win over Birmingham City in the Barclays Premier Academy League - though Gardner well and truly announced he was back 48 hours later on an astonishing evening in Hinckley.

It was Gardner who set the ball rolling for Villa reserves' stunning 10-1 demolition of Arsenal, firstly catching out Gunners goalkeeper James Shea to break the deadlock before scoring another from the penalty spot and supplying the ammunition for Andreas Weimann and Jonathan Hogg strikes.

He netted three more times for the second string in the final stages of the season - against Wolves, Liverpool and West Bromwich Albion - as well as twice for the U18s against Leicester and Reading.

The midfielder spent the last few weeks of the season with the first team squad where he trained alongside the club's established stars on a daily basis and earned a place in the travelling party for several top-flight games.

International recognition came Gardner's way in March 2011 when he represented England U19s in a 3-0 friendly defeat against Holland.

Prior to his cruciate ligament injury, the 2009-10 campaign had started explosively for Gardner.

He skippered the youth team and was on fire in front of goal, finding the net 14 times by December.

His finest moments included a hat-trick in the FA Youth Cup third round win over Rochdale.

He also made great strides at reserve level in the early part of the season and even set up a goal for his brother Craig in a 1-1 second string draw against Wolves.