JACOB'S LADDER

Ramsey plots climb to the top with his club and country

- NEIL MOXLEY

JACOB RAMSEY feel the dread inside him.

His ankle had been clipped, his foot went numb. Something was badly wrong.

Not only were his dreams of European Championship glory ended in brutal fashion but he also felt that Aston Villa manager Unai Emery might not wait around to see if it mended.

Nothing could be done, of course, about the broken metatarsal that ruined his chances of playing for Lee Carsley's victorious England Under-21s side six months ago but the Villa boss was a different story.

His Three Lions team-mates held up a shirt with his name on following the victory over Spain in the final on July 8, ending a 39-year wait for glory.

The good news was that Emery could rising wasn't about to jettison one of his club's brightest talents at the first chance either.

Ramsey said: "I went into that tournament thinking I needed to show Villa that I was the best player there.