Villa boss O'Neill convinced Petrov now back to his best

Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill is excited by the form being shown by midfielder Stiliyan Petrov.

O'Neill said: "Petrov was definitely inconsistent before. He had never really captured the sort of form that I had seen him display at Celtic - and I mean Celtic on European nights where he was fantastic.

"He has had to adapt. The role has changed for him here. At Celtic he was basically a midfield player getting beyond the centre-forwards - and I think I could score goals if I had Chris Sutton and Henrik Larsson playing up front when coming through from midfield!

"But here he is playing the holding role in the side. He is getting plenty of touches early on in games, his confidence is high, his strength is terrific.

"It is the sort of strength in holding people off that I've known Stiliyan for five years at Celtic. This is what I've been pleased with and, when he gets up to head the ball, he is brave.

"Confidence is an amazing thing in football. His confidence was low last season and then it looked as if he was deliberating as to whether to go and challenge someone.

"Now confidence is so high, he is going in, winning the balls, he is setting things in motion and he can play himself. I really could not be more pleased with him. I thought he was outstanding against Sunderland."

Villa defender Curtis Davies added: "The man of the match at Villa normally goes to about one of four players. You all know who those players are. For Stan (Petrov) to get it was brilliant and I think he was top class again against Sunderland.

"He is showing why he is staying in that central midfield and it is going to be hard to displace him.

"I wasn't here when he first came here but, since I've been here, Stan has been spot-on and you can't really fault him.

"Last year he had a stage where he wasn't involved for six or seven games but he is a strong character, a strong player and he can always come back and put in performances like that."