Former Aston Villa goalkeeper Brad Freidel has backed current custodian Brad Guzan to emerge as a stronger person from his struggles at the Midlands club.

The 31-year-old has battled with his form this season as Villa remain rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table.

Friedel told Villa's official website of his fellow American gloveman: "It is tough when you are playing in a struggling team.

"As a goalkeeper you really have to keep your concentration and try to keep your confidence high.

"The way media is today as well, nobody gets away with anything and you are on a 24/7 opinion path.

"If I was in Brad's shoes, there is only one thing you can do - turn up for training, work hard and hope that you can gain confidence from training to go into the game and make that key save or get that result.

"As a person and a character, Brad is a great guy.

"He is a positive guy and a very hard worker.

"You find out a lot about yourself when times are tough.

"He had a setback where he was dropped by Tim Sherwood last year then he regained his place.

"He was dropped this year too and regained his place again.

"The only way to stop the critics if you are a goalkeeper is by getting clean sheets and winning games so hopefully for his sake and even more importantly for Aston Villa's sake he can start helping the team do that.

"I'd love nothing more at this stage when I turn on the TV at the weekend than to see that Aston Villa have won and have started a miraculous recovery.

"I don't want to see Aston Villa in the Championship."