Karim El Ahmadi is ready to help Aston Villa climb away from the dropzone.

Having missed the whole of January because of African Cup of Nations duty with his country, the Dutch-born midfielder returned to the fold in the 3-3 draw at Everton and is looking to impose himself on Villa's middle ground over the remainder of the season.

"It was a good feeling to be the manager's first signing," he told Villa's website.

"I was very happy about that. It's nice to think the manager thinks a lot of you. And I'm delighted to be here because it was always my dream to play in the Premier League.

"It was hard to be away last month because Villa had some very big games coming up and I wanted to play in them. If your country calls you, though, you cannot say no. I was fit and I was ready to play for Morocco.

"But I watched the highlights of every Villa game while I was there. It was really disappointing that we didn't get to Wembley in the Capital One Cup because being involved in the final would have been a great prize for me in my first season here.

"But now we have to focus on the league. I believe we can climb the table because we have so many good players. The way we created the goals at Everton showed what we are capable of.

"Now we have to win more games."