Aston Villa and Wales defender Neil Taylor is hoping that his recall to the Villa side will help him earn a place back in the Wales side in the near future. 

Taylor had fallen out-of-favour with Steve Bruce whilst he was manager of Villa, and Taylor made only 27 starts last season, with the Welshman not featuring for half of the season.

But with new Villa boss Dean Smith recalling Taylor to the starting XI at the weekend, it will welcome news to the left-back who had previously only made three starts all this season.

Since his move to the Championship club from Swansea City, Taylor is yet to recapture the sort of form that made him such a success at Swansea.

He has only made 48 appearances in a three-year-spell with Villa since his move back in January 2017.

But after his recent return to the Villa side, Taylor is hoping to build on his positive performance for the rest of the season as Villa chase promotion back to the Premier League.

In an interview with BBC Sport after their narrow 1-0 win over his former side at the weekend, Taylor revealed he is keen to return to the Welsh national team in the future.

'Fingers crossed in the long term I can get back in, but I’m just not thinking about it at the moment.'

Taylor admitted that he is remaining focused on club football and establishing himself in the Aston Villa side as first-choice right-back this season before even debating his future in the Welsh national side.

'Right now it’s playing club football and the rest should take care of itself.

'If you’re not playing enough football then you’re not going to be in (the squad),' Taylor added.

The 29-year-old feels that he has to remain patient for a return to the international stage.

'You’ve got to stay level-headed in football and your time will come back around and you’ve got to be ready when it does.'

The Verdict: 

Taylor certainly has the ability to be playing for Wales but like he has admitted in his interview, you need to be playing regular first-team football to even be considered for an international call up.

I think he can recapture his best form under the guidance of Dean Smith and if he can do that, then he it's likely we will see him back in a Wales shirt in the near future.