New recruits Luke Young and Nicky Shorey checked into Villa Park insisting their new club can help them to the next level and restore their England careers.

Right-back Shorey was the first to arrive after agreeing to a £4m switch from relegated Reading, while left-back Young completed a medical and sealed a £5m move from Middlesbrough hours later.

The duo are much needed by manager Martin O’Neill, after a combination of player departures and injuries, and Villa are likely to offer them the perfect platform to revive their England careers.

Gareth Barry, Ashley Young, Gabby Agbonlahor and Curtis Davies have already caught the attention of England coach Fabio Capello.

The new boys will be hoping the Italian will have two more reasons to visit the Second City and ultimately add to the nine caps they have between them under previous regimes.

Seven-cap Young said: “I think I’m at the right place at the right time. We’ve got a young English squad so Fabio Capello has every reason to come to our games.

“He’ll be having a look at the exciting young lads we’ve got and that will give me a chance to show what I can do. Hopefully I can force my way back
in.”

Like Young, left-back Shorey is expected to be thrown straight into the Villa back four for the start of the new campaign. Both are in line to make their debuts in Thursday’s UEFA Cup second qualifying round clash with FH Hafnarfjordur in Iceland.

Shorey, twice capped, added: “I’ve had a taste of it and I really enjoyed it. It would be good to get back there but the first thing on my mind is trying to get into the Villa team. I’ll take it one step at a time.

“I think it’s important for any club to have an English base and hopefully I can be a part of that. There are already lots of good young English players here, so I’m sure I am in the right place to be noticed by Fabio Capello.”

Young is glad to be joining a club on the up after struggles with Middlesbrough and Charlton in recent years. He sees no reason why Villa cannot improve on last season’s sixth place.

He said: ” We can build on finishing sixth last season. You’ve always got to try and better yourself every season. It was a fantastic season for Villa last year and the side fully deserved to finish sixth, maybe even higher.

“Now we want to try and achieve at least the same and hopefully better. That’s not going to be easy but we’re building a good squad here, so why not?”

For Shorey, who ended a seven year association with Reading to join Villa, he reflects on his career with the notion that Villa is a step up.

He said: “It’s amazing thinking back to my early days at Orient to now be joining a big club like this. This is a big move for me and I’m just eager to get going.

“It was a tough decision for me to leave Reading after such a long time. Being there for the length of time I was there, the club’s part of me and I was like part of the furniture.

“But I didn’t want to look back after I retired,  thinking I had the chance of a move to experience something else and I didn’t take it. Hopefully the Reading people can understand that.

“Relegation had nothing to do with my thinking. This is something that’s been on my mind for a long time now. I’m just glad to be here and back in the place to be – the Premier League.”