Aston Villa midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker expects to be booed by West Ham fans today.

Reo-Coker said: "I don't think I'll get a good reception. At the end of the day, they don't care how I feel and I'm an enemy. I don't blame them. If I was a football fan, I'd have the same way of thinking.

"But since coming to Villa I've received a lot of letters from West Ham fans writing to congratulate me on my move and thank me for my efforts and everything I did there. That has warmed my heart. I'll take those letters on to the pitch in my mind to block out all the negativity."

The lowest point of Reo-Coker's time at West Ham came in December 2006.

"The week when Alan Curbishley took over, in the build-up to the Manchester United game, I checked my mail for the first time in ages,' he said.

"I opened the top letter, which said something like: 'You n****r, get out of my club, we don't want you here'. I couldn't believe what I was reading.

"When my name was read out before the game, there were boos. It all escalated from there and I was labelled as a bad apple.

"How would you feel, at the age of 22, captain of a Premier League club if you got a letter like that and were booed by your own fans? People blatantly didn't want me to be there."