O'Neill keen to tie up Petrov

Aston Villa manager Martin O’Neill is stepping up his bid to persuade key midfielder Stiliyan Petrov to sign a new contract.

Petrov, who joined from Celtic for £6m in the summer of 2006, has only 15 months left on his current deal.

O’Neill claimed after the closure of the January transfer window that getting Petrov to put pen to paper was his “top priority.”

He has held talks with representatives of the Bulgarian international and will be speaking directly to Petrov in the next few days.

O’Neill said: “I have spoken to Stiliyan’s agent and we would be hoping to be speaking (to Petrov) very shortly.

“I spoke to him before we went out to Dubai recently for a training break and we will be having a meeting sometime in the very near future.

“After a difficult start at the football club, Stiliyan was determined to show he could make an impact in the Premier League and he has been excellent for us.”