Ron Vlaar's big break for Aston Villa

To take his mind off the stresses and strains of Villa's worst start to a season in 43 years the Dutch centre-back has swapped green pitches for the green baize of his snooker table.

As it happens Vlaar is an avid fan of the game and recently partnered Ronnie O'Sullivan in a doubles exhibition match in Bedworth during a recent Snooker Legends tour.

"Snooker is not really that big back home in Holland and we only have a referee called Jan Verhaas who is involved with the professional game," explained Vlaar.

"I had sorted Jan out with some tickets for the Holland game in Rotterdam a few weeks back and he told me then there was this snooker legends event in Bedworth which is fairly close to Birmingham.

"I know Jan and I got to play in an exhibition game in Bedworth with Ronnie O'Sullivan and Jimmy White which was a fantastic experience.

"During the break between matches I played doubles – Ronnie and I against Jimmy White and another guy which was really fun. The game was played in front of a crowd who had come to watch the main event so it was pretty good fun."

Vlaar baulked at the suggestion that he felt more pressure on the table alongside his snooker heroes than on the football pitch, but revealed it does help him unwind at the end of a day of training.

"Did I feel more pressure? No, not really. It's more about focus. On that table I felt pretty confident actually!" said the Villa captain.

"I started watching snooker about 10 years ago when the World Championship was on. I saw Ronnie O'Sullivan make a 147 break live. We were having dinner but I said to my mum 'hold the meal because I have to see this' and luckily she did. I really liked it from that point.

"My highest break is 34 which isn't great but I am hoping to beat that! Snooker is a nice way of winding down. I like reading also but snooker helps clear my mind, relax me and help me to get focus for the next day."

And Vlaar admitted he would love to put Villa in the frame for a different kind of pot having only sporadically tasted success in his career thus far.

"We won the cup in Holland with Feyenoord but I was injured that year so I didn't play. It was a hard year for me but because I didn't recover at the club I wasn't there a lot," said Vlaar.

"So when they won the trophy I was really happy and it felt good, although it was different for me.

"I also won two Under-21 European Championships in a row which was great.

"I dream about lifting a trophy with Villa of course. You want to win every game and cup games are something you look forward to. It's a long way off yet but to play at Wembley would be amazing."