Former Aston Villa captain Martin Laursen says Ron Vlaar is the ideal role model for new signing Jores Okore.

Laursen has big hopes for his fellow Dane.

He told the Birmingham Mail: "You could see that last season when Ron Vlaar came back from injury and helped the defence settle down a bit and after that they started to win matches.

"Okore can become a good player at Villa, but they already have young defenders like Ciaran Clark and Nathan Baker who need someone older to learn from and help them.

"So I hope Vlaar is able to concentrate on his own game and try to make the younger players like Okore get better and better."