Wilfred Bouma has no fears competing with new Aston Villa teammate Stephen Warnock for the left-back slot.

“I am relishing the competition. Stephen is a good full-back. You can see he’s a good player from what he did when he was at Blackburn," said Bouma.

“If you want to be a good club, you need competition for places.

“We have had a small squad in recent years. Now it’s great to have more solid players coming in.

“We’ve got three players battling for the full-back slot now.”