Ashley Young insists Emile Heskey is happy at Aston Villa.

The striker has suffered injury and a loss of form since his arrival from Wigan Athletic.

Young insists Heskey has remained in good spirits around the Bodymoor Heath training base, despite scoring just two competitive goals for Villa and none at all this season.

“He’s never down,” said Young to the Birmingham Mail.

“I don’t think any player that comes into the Villa dressing room is ever down with the team spirit and the team bond we have here. It’s always been brilliant and that shows season after season with what we do on the pitch.

“Any striker would want to play with Emile and if you ask anybody who has they will tell you that he’s a fantastic player.

“If a striker’s not scoring goals it’s about the other things he is doing well and Emile is doing those other things well.

“He brings a lot to Villa and England. If you look at his track record for England he’s a great player to have. He can win headers, he’s strong, he can run, he can score goals. He’s great to have as a forward.

“When he plays at Villa he’s got all the qualities. If you look at the last few games where he’s played he’s a true professional. He comes in and does his job. He might not have scored goals but he’s doing a job for team and country and he does it extremely well.”