O'Leary gives assurance to Ridgewell

David O’Leary has insisted defender Liam Ridgewell will not become Aston Villa’s fall guy and automatically lose his place to Martin Laursen – as long as he maintains his form.

Home-grown Ridgewell is concerned that Laursen will come straight back into the side once he is fully fit after O’Leary paid £3m (€4.3m) to AC Milan for his services last summer.