Villa defender Carlos Cuellar has vowed he is the man to fill the void at the heart of the defence.

The retirement of Martin Laursen and sale of Zat Knight to Bolton – coupled with Portsmouth’s reluctance to sell Sylvain Distin – have left Villa with just two senior centre-backs, Cuellar and Curtis Davies, with the new season just two-and-half weeks away.

Having played most of his football at right-back last season, Cuellar has declared he is ready to step into the centre and play more often.

He said: “I prefer to play in the centre, because I feel more comfortable there. I would like to play every game.

‘Last year I had too many problems with injuries and I lost time and missed some games. This time I would like to play many more games.”