Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill is happy that Stiliyan Petrov is ready to fight for his future at Villa Park.

O'Neill said: "I read that Stiliyan is ready to fight for his place and I welcome that type of response. It would be the type of response I would expect from Stiliyan having known him for many years.

"He became a big player at Celtic - at domestic and European level - but he was still left out of a few games there. He battled to get into the side then and I expect to see the same from him again at Villa.

"I've no doubts that when Stiliyan gets complete confidence back in himself, he will roar back and show everyone the player he really is."