Knight joy at dream Villa start

Zat Knight declared his goal gave him a 'dream start' for Villa after a week where he was arrested.

The £4m defender was released without charge after a drugs bust by police at his house in Erdington on Wednesday - hours before he was unveiled as the club's new signing.

He said: "Everyone knows it was an up and down week for me, but that was a brilliant way to round it off - with a clean-sheet and a debut goal.

"I could never have dreamt of a debut like that - against a top team like Chelsea.

"It was great for me to get some good headlines.

"It was our first corner and to get the goal really set us up for the second-half."

Knight celebrated his goal by charging towards manager Martin O'Neill to thank him for standing by him.

He said: "The manager stuck by me during a tough week and the fans stuck by me and it was just a way of saying thank you.

"It means a lot to me to play for this club and it meant a lot to celebrate the goal with the fans.

"I don't think I've come down off cloud nine. For me it's more about keeping a clean sheet and I thought the team did great yesterday from start to finish."

Knight also praised the character of his defensive partner Martin Laursen, who has overcome two years of career-threatening knee problems to win the man of the match award.

Villa have only lost one of the last 18 league games the Danish international has played for the club, conceding just 13 goals.

"I know he's had a few bad injuries, but I was really happy for him to get man of the match," he said.

"He had a great game. He's shown a lot of character to come through the last three years and you have to take your hat off to him.

"He's struggled for three years and shown against Chelsea what he can do."

Despite his dream start, Knight insisted he isn't taking his place for granted.

"I just hope I'm playing - I don't really mind who with. There are some good defenders here," he added.

"We did complement each and long may it continue.

"I felt settled in the defence and hopefully there's a lot more clean-sheets to come from us this season.

"Didier Drogba is a handful but defensively we were excellent."

Knight believes Villa have the talent - if not the depth of squad - to challenge for Europe.

"I think European football is a realistic proposition. I think we've got good enough players," he said.

"I don't think we've got a big enough squad, but if everyone can stay fit, then everyone wants to end up in Europe.

"I don't think the squad is big enough but he's the manager and he makes the decisions. I came here to hopefully get into Europe."