Aston Villa believes dropping Charles N'Zogbia could spur him on

Aston Villa's managerial team believe dropping their big summer signing Charles N'Zogbia could be the making of him.

The club are still waiting for the £9.5million summer recruit to fire, after a disappointing opening three months to the campaign following his arrival from Wigan.

But manager Alex McLeish's decision to take the Frenchman out of the firing line is beginning to pay dividends, according to his assistant Peter Grant.

He said: "We feel in the last few weeks that he's starting to get there. The boys appreciate his talent because they see it on the training ground, so that's why we're confident that there's a lot more to come from him.

"We feel that if he produces what he's capable of then he can be a big player for us in this period. We think that he's got to believe more in himself."