O'Leary praises Ridgewell

Aston Villa manager David O’Leary has praised “the great character” shown by centre-back Liam Ridgewell, who is poised to sign a new three-year contract with the midlands club.

Ridgewell was not O’Leary’s first choice at the start of the 2005/2006 season, but injuries to the likes of Martin Laursen, Mark Delaney and skipper Olof Mellberg meant he started 33 games.

The reward for the England U21 player is a contract until the summer of 2009, and he is expected to put pen to paper today.

O’Leary said: “Liam has stood up and has been counted. All of last season he was playing with different partners and did really well.

“He has a great character about him. One thing I noticed when I first came to club was one of his strengths was his gritty determination, the will to win, and that’s a very strong asset.

“There were times when I would have loved to be able to rest Liam but for much of the time I had no-one else who could come in to enable me to do that.

“When I started here we had Olof Mellberg, Ozalan Alpay, Steve Staunton, Dion Dublin and Ronny Johnsen. Four of them went so we’ve been left with a young player in Ridgewell, plus Mellberg.

“We bought in Martin Laursen but he hardly played, so we operated for a good while with two centre-halves, and Liam, although having ups and downs like all young players, did a good job.”

With doubts still surrounding whether Laursen will recover from a knee injury, O’Leary is looking to bring in a new centre-back but Ridgewell is ready to challenge strongly to keep his place.

He said: “Yes, there is talk of the gaffer getting someone else in and it is good for the club have competition for places.

“If that happens, we will in effect be competing for one place because Olof is captain and he will take one of the spots.

“It is up to me to prove that when I get in there I can keep my place. I want to play when everyone is fit and not just when people are injured.”

Villa rookie defender Gary Cahill is also expected to sign a new three-year contract in the next few days.