Aston Villa midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker says Villa Park is the ideal place for young players to reach their potential.

He said: "If another player rang and asked me why he should sign for Villa I'd just say that you've got a good chance of playing - and as a young player, to improve you have to be playing. You feel like there's fair competition for places in the team regardless of who you are or where you came from, and that keeps players on their toes. We've also got a great bunch of lads. There's no one individual who tries to bring the team down.

"I said to John Carew - who's travelled a lot - that this is the best dressing room I've been in, with no bad apples and nobody trying to be bigger than anyone else.

"He's played in Valencia, Rome, Lyon and seen all sorts. He said with every team he's been in there's always been some players who cause divisions - until he came here.

"We've got more of what I'd call a working environment. At West Ham we had more characters, more individuals, people with really big personalities.

"The biggest personality we've got in the dressing room is Ashley Young, and maybe Gabby Agbonlahor, and that says a lot because I remember them with the Under-21s and never said a word.

"It's a lot different here - it's hard to explain, but the best way is that everybody gets along and we are all chasing the same goal with the same ambition."