O'Neill voices Davies support
14 Nov 2007 - 10:58:24
Aston Villa central defender Curtis Davies has been urged to keep up the good work in a bid to gain regular first-team football with the Premier League club.
Davies, 22, joined Villa from West Bromwich Albion in the summer, but has made just two appearances so far this term, with Martin Laursen and Zat Knight the first-choice pairing for manager Martin O'Neill.
However, the Irishman has been impressed by Davies' displays for the second string at Villa Park.
He commented: "Curtis Davies has come here and said himself this is the longest spell he's been out of the first team anywhere in his career.
"But I haven't signed him for four or five games, I've signed him for the next x number of years and I want him to be a really big player for Aston Villa, which I'm sure he can be.
"This current spell - although he may not see it like this - will give him some sort of incentive, so when he gets into the team, as he inevitably will, that he's in there to stay.
"He's pushing for a place. His reserve performances have been excellent and he's improving."
