ASTON Villa manager John Gregory is "not expecting any moves just yet" regarding being offered a new contract, even though his current deal has barely 18 months to run.

Gregory, who celebrates his fourth anniversary at the club next month, has worked a minor miracle with a limited budget and a small squad to keep Villa as a competitive force in the Premiership.

He has twice steered them to a UEFA Cup spot, their first FA Cup final in 2000 for 43 years and a regular place in the top eight of the Premiership even though he has had restricted resources.

Gregory has in real terms splashed out only around £16million on signings during his reign, spending £67million but recouping nearly £51million in sales of players.

This season Villa led the Barclaycard Premiership in late October until long-term injuries to a host of key players took their toll and was a key factor in a run of just one win in 13 games.

But Villa have still to place a new deal in front of the former England midfielder, who replaced Brian Little in the hotseat in February 1998 and quickly adopted to life as a Premiership manager.

Gregory said: "I'm not interested in that. In football terms what I have got left (on my contract) is quite a long time.

"It is different rules if a player is in the same situation. They have a price and a market value on their head.

"That's why you protect your interests by getting them to sign longer contracts because you can't risk losing them. With a manager it is slightly different. I'm not expecting any moves just yet, I wouldn't think."