Aston Villa goalkeeper Brad Guzan was born in a place called Evergreen Park in Illinois and the claret and blue fans hope he thinks the grass at Villa Park is greener.

The American has stepped into the breach while Shay Given recovers from a hamstring injury and has proved to be a more than worthy deputy to the Republic of Ireland international.

With some uncertainty over the length of time Given will be on the sidelines Guzan’s run in the side, which currently stands at five Premier League appearances, will stretch into the middle of January at least.

It has effectively kick-started his Villa career and means he is known on the Holte End for more than simply saving four penalties in a League Cup shoot-out success over Sunderland at the Stadium of Light in October 2009.

Alex McLeish is not an easy manager to win over, which makes Brad Guzan’s spell between the sticks for Villa even more notable.

Guzan’s name was probably on McLeish’s list of players expected to go through the exit door when his contract expires in the summer.

The Villa boss is under strict instructions to prune the club’s wage bill and get rid of some dead wood – but McLeish confirmed Villa are keen to offer Guzan a new contract.

The 27-year-old will face a difficult decision over the next six months as he weighs up whether to remain at Villa Park or seek pastures new in search of regular football.

McLeish said: “Brad did ask questions about what I thought the future holds for him. I want him to stay here and I told him that. We were always right behind him.

“It wasn’t a case of ‘Shay’s out, can you play in goal now?’ Even though he’s not featured it’s not like we haven’t been in communication with him.

“I have spoken to the big man about how we want him to stay. We realise his ambitions – at 27, he may want to play some regular football.

“This will have given him a huge appetite for it. But we are very pleased with him. We’d already been talking to him before his spell between the sticks and things were quite promising. B

“But we’ll talk again after we decide to bring Shay back. He is 27 and it just depends on how much he wants to be here and loves the club, I suppose.

“We’re hopeful but I’m sure his bargaining power might have gone up a wee bit.”

Guzan particularly caught the eye with his bravery and determination to come for aerial balls pumped into the box against Stoke at the Britannia Stadium on Boxing Day.

It’s something that helped Villa – when the odds seemed against them – restore confidence in their ability to defend set-pieces.

Villa are conceding more from dead balls than any other club in the Premier League and Guzan’s determination to claim the ball pleased McLeish.

He said: “I’ve been impressed by him. He did very well at Stoke. He came and took a couple of crucial long throws and corners. A goalkeeper’s confidence soars after that.

“I remember Joe Hart at Birmingham when he took one in one of his games – where he’s been punching previously – and you could just see the chest coming out another couple of inches.

“He never looked back from there. Goalkeeping coach Terry Gennoe has definitely got Brad’s confidence high. I have always liked my goalkeepers to come out for the ball.

“They are the only guys who can use their hands in the box and they have got to try and get above strikers and take the balls in the air.

“I don’t want to start talking about Shay when Brad’s doing extremely well for us. When Shay’s ready to challenge again – we’ll just have to wait and see.”