Villa defender Curtis Davies has urged manager Martin O’Neill to replace Martin Laursen in the transfer market – after admitting he is not the man to fill the shoes of the Dane.

Davies reckons former captain Laursen is impossible to replace ‘like for like’, but he believes O’Neill’s side can adapt to life without the retired defender.

And Davies admitted it was tough to cope with the extra expectation on him after the loss to injury of the influential centre-back.

“When Martin came out of the team people were looking at me a bit more to step up,” said Davies. “I guess I’m not the Martin Laursen character people have been looking for.

“It’s hard task to replace someone like Martin. It’s not just a case of getting someone that can head a ball.”

And Davies admitted replacing Laursen will be difficult because of the Dane’s unique leadership qualities.

Davies said: “Do we need a screamer and shouter? Martin Laursen was never like that.

“He projected himself with his actions on the pitch, winning headers, making tackles and being a no-nonsense figure.

“Did we miss that? I don’t think we missed that but we missed Martin. We could have a player who does that but is not as good as Martin.

“We missed Martin because he was a big player in the team.

“The manager might want to sign another tough, old-school centre-half that’s going to win headers in our box and in the opponents’ box, but you don’t know.”