West Bromwich Albion left-back Nicky Shorey says he will not look back at as his Aston Villa days with fond memories and is glad he has found a great club.
The 30-year old left Villa Park for The Hawthorns in August last year after making just 22 league appearances in a forgetful two-year spell with the Villains.
Now he has found a niche with the Baggies and says it was definitely a worthwhile move to the West Midlands.
"It would be quite easy to say I regret it just because I went there and it didn't work out," the former Reading man told Express and Star.
"But I learned a lot and met a lot of different people who I call friends.
"I think you just have to take every experience as it comes, whether it's a good one or a bad one, and take the best out of it.
"Coming from Reading, where I was playing all the time, maybe if I'd gone somewhere else where I was playing I wouldn't have learned what I did from being on the other side of it.
"In my further career, if I do go into coaching, that is something good to learn from. I was at Reading for a long time so I saw what other people do and how they work.
"Sometimes you don't know what you've got until it's gone."
He added: "You've got to try to make everyone feel part of it because they will be needed throughout the season.
"The gaffer here is good at that. At Villa I felt quite isolated because, for whatever reason, it just wasn't happening.
"The gaffer here makes you feel part of it, which is important."
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