Aston Villa great Paul McGrath has paid tribute to England coach Gareth Southgate.

Southgate played for England as a Villa player.

McGrath wrote for the Sunday World: "Southgate was bought to replace me at Villa back in 1995, as I was at that stage of my career where I was nursing my knees through matches and trying to hang on in the Premier League.

"I remember him joining us from Crystal Palace and to start with, he was playing in a midfield role before he dropped back and played in the defensive line alongside me.

"Ugo Ehiogu and Shaun Teale were also pushing to get into the Villa defensive line, but Gareth emerged as the real star.

"He was magnificent at the heart of our three-man defence under Brian Little and we finished that season winning the League Cup with a fine win against Leeds in the final at Wembley.

"Gareth's form was so impressive that Terry Venables had to get him into his England side for the Euro '96 finals, where he infamously missed the decisive penalty in the semi-final shoot-out against eventual champions Germany.

"I felt for Gareth after that because I got to know him well over that year at Villa and he was the sweetest of guys.

"He was so humble, down to earth and just a great fella and you didn't want to see a moment like that inflicted on someone who was such a decent guy."