Villa left-back Nicky Shorey insists he is ready to fight for his place in the wake of Stephen Warnock’s arrival from Blackburn.

The defender has welcomed the extra competition following Warnock’s £7million move, even if it puts his own place in jeopardy.

Shorey was rumoured to be heading out of Villa Park in the summer but has played in the opening four games of the season.

Warnock could make his Claret and Blue debut against Fulham tomorrow, at the expense of Shorey, but the ex-Reading ace says he won’t be giving up his place lightly.

He said: “I’m up for the challenge. I want to play football, that’s my main aim. If someone gets in the way then you’ve got to try and make sure you are playing better. That’s all you can do.

“He’s a left-back and a club like Villa are going to be signing players in your position all the time.

“You’ve got to get on with it and hopefully you’ll get a game. If not then you see what happens.”

Warnock’s arrival boosts Villa’s depleted defence and Shorey called for patience after a stuttering start at Villa Park.

They have been booed off in both their home games so far – a 2-0 defeat to Wigan and Thursday’s Europa League exit to Rapid Vienna, after they went out on away goals despite winning 2-1.

He said: “It’s hard. We’ve got to be patient, us as players and the fans. Teams will come here and sit behind the ball and we’ve got to break them down. It’s not an easy thing to do.

“I don’t care what team is it, if they come to sit behind the ball there’s not a lot you can do. We’ve got to try and be patient.

“Fulham are very resolute and solid. They had a lot of 0-0 draws and 1-0 wins last season so it’s going to be tough to break them down. It’s always tough and it was 0-0 at home last season.”

But the 28-year-old admits there may be a Europa League hangover after their shock exit on Thursday night.

Villa were expected to qualify for the group stages but Shorey says they are taking the positives into their league campaign.

“It’s the same for all of us, a lot of the senior players haven’t got much experience in Europe but I’m sure it will spur us on to do well in the league,” he said. “You’ve got to try and take the positives and we can have a bit more rest between games, although we’d rather be playing the games.”

Curtis Davies is a big doubt after dislocating his shoulder again against Vienna with youngster Shane Lowry standing by.

Gabby Agbonlahor could replace the ineffective Emile Heskey after being rested against the Austrians.

Fulham head to Villa on Sunday having qualified for the Europa League after a 3-2 aggregate win over Russian outfit Amkar Perm.

The five-hour 2,250-mile flight from eastern Europe has taken its toll on the Cottagers who kept their watches on English time in a bid to keep their body clocks regular.

“It will be tough this weekend because the players I have returning from injury are battling to be fit and I don’t know quite how many will make it,” said boss Roy Hodgson.

“It was a long flight and we were there a long time. We had a five-hour time difference to deal with even though I thought we dealt with it in the most intelligent way possible by keeping our watches on British time.

“But it’s not always easy to sleep when the sun is creeping in through your window.” For the Cottagers, former Albion captain Jonathan Greening could make his debut but fellow new signing Kagisho Dikgacoi, who completed a move from South African club Golden Arrows on Thursday, is still lacking match fitness.

Clint Dempsey is expected to overcome an ankle injury in time to make the trip.

Manager Roy Hodgson will give late fitness tests to Danny Murphy (calf), Paul Konchesky (knee) and Bobby Zamora (Achilles).

Andrew Johnson (shoulder), Simon Davies (foot) and Toni Kallio (Achilles) are definitely out.