Carla Ward has praised Kirsty Hanson, who is on loan from Manchester United, ahead of the Women's Super League clash against her parent club.
The 25-year-old has scored three goals in the league since she joined back in September and has impressed at the Midlands side.
Ward revealed that the final decision on whether a permanent deal is possible, ultimately depends on whether United qualify for the Champions League.
"It depends on where Manchester United end up. I think everybody knows that if you make Champions League, you need a very big squad. So we’ll have to see how the remaining games pan out. We obviously want to keep her. She’s been excellent.
"We’ve got a really good relationship and we’d love to continue that. We’ll see how Manchester United do and then we’ll assess it towards the end of the season."
On Manchester United
Friday's opponents currently sit at the top of the WSL table and they have become embroiled in a four-way fight at the summit.
They beat Arsenal 1-0 in their last encounter and Ward is fully aware of just how difficult a task it will be to overcome the Manchester outfit.
She said: "They’ve shown a huge amount of resilience and quality. They continue to score goals, they don’t concede many. I think they’ve conceded nine goals all year but they’re scoring an awful lot.
"They have threats everywhere so they deserve an awful lot of credit. They’re certainly there because they deserve to be there. So, from their point of view, they’ve got five games to play and they have to win them all.
"We will do our best to make sure that we give everything and try and get a result."
Villa currently sit in fifth position and the 39-year-old admitted that they are hopeful of closing the gap with the top four in the future.
"You want to compete with the top four. That’s the reality. Yes, we’re trying to be the best of the rest but the reality is the top four are out on their own for a reason.
"Can we start to close the gap? These are the games that you test yourself to see how far off you are, so it’s going to be really important to try and give a good account of ourselves and see where we are."
Team News
The Aston Villa boss suggested that her side are not at full-strength heading into this weekend, but it could present an opportunity to some of the academy players.
Freya Gregory has been ruled out for the rest of the campaign and Ward acknowledged there is also a couple of other doubts.
"We’ve been fairly thin in recent weeks. Freya Gregory picked up an illness last weekend, so she’s set to miss the rest of the season which is a blow.
"We talk about Kirsty’s form and a lot of that’s down to the competition that Freya’s given her.
"There’s a couple that we’re assessing today but certainly there should be some academy players on the bench this weekend and a couple of questions marks leading into the weekend."
On Bristol City's promotion
The Robins were promoted from the Women's Championship, which means that there will be another female manager in the top-flight.
Ward was asked whether she thinks it's good for the women's game.
"It is great. Lauren Smith’s got Anita Asante beside her, who will offer a huge amount of experience by the way.
"I had her here last year and she certainly helped me. She’ll be helping Lauren.
"She’s also got Jen Foster who was one of my coaches when I was at Birmingham City so they’ve got three good coaches there, three really good people."
Bristol City are four points clear of second-placed Birmingham City in the second-tier, with only one match remaining. The Aston Villa boss is happy to see female coaches thriving.
"I was delighted for them, I really was. It’s great to see some more females stepping into the WSL that’s for sure."
On next season's plans
Aston Villa have four matches left this season and plans ahead of next the next campaign are already being put into place, as the club continues to improve.
The 39-year-old is already preparing for the months ahead and hope's to be efficient in the transfer market.
"Anyone that knows me, knows that I’m already a couple of windows ahead. We’re well on our way with summer recruitment.
"We’re in a really good place, we’ve got a couple over the line and hopefully we’ll get a few more in before the end of the season so I can enjoy a summer holiday without having to come in and do some more business."
The Villa manager admits that it's important to be sustainable in the club's approach and to keep improving each year.
"It’s really important that we’re sustainable in our approach. I’ve talked about it quite a lot. It’s making sure we’re building blocks, year on year.
"It’s the same with the first team, same with the women, same across the board and everybody understands that so it’s continuing to walk, jog, then run. Not trying to run before you can walk and I think that’s really important."