Carlos Cuellar today hailed towering Villa team-mate John Carew as the Premier League’s No. 1 player in the air, insisting: ‘He’s every defender’s worst nightmare’.

Holte End hero Carew scored one goal and made another three with his best display of the season in Saturday’s 5-1 drubbing of Bolton.

That made it two goals in his last three games for the Norway star and, after facing Carew in training, Cuellar admits he’s relieved not to have to come up against the ex-Roma and Valencia forward on a Saturday.

“I am happy John plays for Aston Villa,” said Cuellar. “I would rather play with him than against him.

“As you can imagine, he is hard to defend against. In training I sometimes have to play against him and he is really hard to mark.

“John is big and he is strong and clever. He is everything for us and is probably the best player in the air in the Premier League.”

Cuellar also revealed his delight at finally getting off the mark in claret and blue colours after scoring Villa’s fifth against the Trotters. “It was great to score for Villa,” he said.

The Spaniard got a rare opportunity in his favoured central defensive position in the absence of the injured James Collins. However, he insists he will have no complaints if he finds himself resuming right-back duties against Burnley a week on Saturday.

“I am happy to play anywhere,” he added. “I will play wherever I am needed, but the most important thing is to play for the team and try to help the team defend. We are making good progress. We are still confident we can get into the top four.”