I don’t know whether it’s appropriate to keep referring to them as “kids”, I know I wouldn’t have appreciated it when I was their age, but regardless of the moniker, there’s a good deal to be optimistic when we see the batch of academy graduates long tipped for greatness finally becoming first team fixtures and also gaining recognition further afield.

Barry Bannan is reportedly about to be called up to the senior Scottish side and is receiving rave reviews from just about everyone at Villa Park. He’s also starting to make a name for himself more as a central attacking player more so than the left winger he’s generally been know as, something I feel will be extremely useful for us.

Nathan Baker recently signed a new contract, keeping him at Villa until 2012.

Marc Albrighton also penned a new three-and-a-half year deal yesterday, although this was really just an 18 month extension since he still had two years remaining on the deal he signed last September, but this was obviously recognition for his fantastic displays this season. (psst, for “recognition” read “pay rise”).

Marc’s also been making a name for himself with some superb performances from the bench for England Under-21s.

Ciaran Clark signed his a new contract just last month, keeping him at the club until 2014 and will soon be turning out for the senior Irish national team.

Eric Lichaj recently won his first senior international cap with the United States and also committed to another three years back in August.

And lastly, but not leastly, the circumstances might not be the most flattering, but Nathan Delfouneso is about to make his first Premier League start today against Fulham. He’s been on the periphery of the first team and his name whispered for so long now that it’s easy to forget that he’s still only 19 years old and, aside from Baker who is two months younger, he’s actually the youngest of this group of players.

We’ve touched on confidence issues with Delfouneso lately, but I know we’re all hoping he’s going to grab this opportunity with both hands and show us that he is indeed a bright member of the future of Aston Villa. Either way, I’m pretty certain that he is and if we can hang on to this crop of players – and giving them the appropriate contracts is an important first step – then the future can be nothing but bright.