Villa manager Martin O’Neill has tipped Fabian Delph to become a huge hit at the club – but admits the midfielder will have to patiently wait for his chance.

The England under-21 international, a £6million summer signing from Leeds, starred in the weekend FA Cup victory over Brighton and scored his first goal in claret and blue colours.

Delph has found first-team opportunities limited since his arrival, making just two Premier League starts, but O’Neill insists the midfield maestro is destined for big things.

He said: “Fabian will be a player. There is old adage that if you are good enough you are old enough. I can see him making really decent progress and if we play three in the middle of the field then he has as much chance as anyone else.

“I am convinced that training every single day with Ashley Young, James Milner and Stewart Downing and people like that, who are very good with the ball, can only improve him.

“He is not fazed one bit – never has been since day one. The one major reason is because he’s got the ability. He is very comfortable with it, he can manoeuvre it, control it, work with it.”

O’Neill concedes the excellent form of James Milner and Stiliyan Petrov has made Delph’s job even harder – but believes his spell on the sidelines could prove to be a valuable learning curve.

He added: “I knew it was going to be tough on him. He didn’t come here with the promise of first- team football. He knew he was stepping up.

“It wasn’t going to be easy and I don’t think he ever envisaged it as being easy. I know he opened the season here against Wigan but I knew it was going to be a case of him having to come into the side, maybe play a game or two, and maybe go out just to get used to the pace of the Premier League.

“That’s been frustrating for him. There’s also the fact we’ve had some midfield players like Milner and Petrov who have been playing exceptionally well.

“It’s been tough but he’ll break through and maybe during this little period on the sidelines he can learn the game by watching it as well.”