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Aston Villa’s Joe Bennett wants to make the left-back spot his own in the forthcoming season.

Bennett has had spells in the last couple of seasons on loan at Brighton and Sheffield Wednesday - both play-off participants in the previous campaign - and knows the Championship well from his time at Middlesbrough, too.

Alongside Jordan Amavi, returning from injury, and Aly Cissokho, he’ll be competing for the traditional number three jersey, though he recognises the difficulty of the task in hand.

“It’s a big season coming up for me. I certainly know that,” Bennett admitted to the club’s official website.

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“I’ve been out on loan for the last few years and haven’t managed to really grasp that spot in the Villa team.

“I was obviously straight into the team when I joined but since then I haven’t really been able to nail down a place in the team.

“Now it’s a huge season and I am really determined to show the manager, my team-mates and the fans what I’ve got. It’s important to me that I do that.

“I know I’ve got a lot of competition with Aly Cissokho and Jordan Amavi. They are quality left-backs, I know that. They are good guys too and I’m looking forward to the battle for the shirt.

“It’s certainly a healthy competition in the squad and I think that is going to push me forward.

“My No.1 aim is having a good season, contributing as fully as I can and helping this great club return to the Premier League. We’re all focused on that.”

It’s a sizeable squad that Roberto Di Matteo has at his disposal; the Italian has been eager to see as much as he can of the group throughout pre-season.

After a testing training camp in Austria, Bennett explained that he and his teammates are feeling the benefits.

“I feel really fit, like a lot of the lads do,” he added.

“We’ve been putting in a lot of work on the training field, a great deal of fitness work.

“The games we’ve been playing are designed on building up that conditioning but also to get the team gelling as a group out on the field.

“I think a lot of the lads look in good shape – and a lot of lads are getting game-time under their belts too.

“It’s a good group. Everyone is looking forward to the season now.”