New signing Yacouba Sylla can’t wait for Sunday to arrive so that he can get his first experience of match-day at Villa Park.
The French midfielder, plucked out of French Ligue 2 for £1.7 million last month, is in contention for his home debut against West Ham this weekend having had his first taste of Villa action off the bench in the 3-3 draw at Everton last weekend.
It’s arguable whether Villa fans are exactly looking forward to the game against West Ham on Sunday. They have had to watch some excruciating fare at Villa Park this season and the recent ordeals against Tottenham, Wigan, Southampton and Bradford are still fresh in the mind.
But Sylla is counting down the hours.
“Playing at Villa Park will be unbelievable,” he said. “It is a huge stadium with a great history and the crowd will be incredible. You dream about this when you become a footballer. I know the fans are very passionate and it will be great to get started as soon as possible.
“The manager is building a dynamic and exciting young team here and there are players also with a lot of experience. I know plenty about Charles N’Zogbia, with him being French as well, and it will be great to play alongside him.
“I know some of the other players here, too. Christian Benteke has had an extraordinary season so far. For such a young player to have made his name in the Premier League already shows there is real quality here at the club.
“I can’t wait to fight for the club and help them climb the table. My first task will be to integrate myself with my new team-mates and to help those around me to grow and to build with them a strong team. I’m thrilled to be part of this.”
Sylla is likely to be on the bench against West Ham, as is Villa’s other transfer-window recruit Simon Dawkins.
The 25-year-old winger/midfielder has arrived on loan from Tottenham until the end of the season, when he will be a free agent, and has everything to prove.
An unused sub at Goodison Park last Saturday, he has still to kick a ball in Premier League football and, though popular during the last two years with San Joe Earthquakes, now has to prove he has put earlier injury problems behind him and can meet the much higher demands of the top flight in England.
“I worked for two years to get over my injury and regain my fitness and now I’m really motivated to make the most of this opportunity at Villa,” Dawkins said. “The past two seasons with San Jose have really kick-started my career and I never lost my belief. Everything I’ve been through has made me stronger mentally as a player and as a person.
“It’s a hard thing to go through when you get injured, especially a serious injury but, as a young boy, playing football is all you want to do so I never let that get to me. I managed to get myself back fit and hopefully, I can take that to the next stage now, get an understanding with everybody here and keep Villa up.
“One week you’re in a relegation battle then a few wins and you’re out of it. Let’s hope we can save ourselves.”
Villa manager Paul Lambert reckons that Dawkins could prove a surprise package in the same the way that Christian Benteke has done.
“Dawkins will surprise people,” Lambert said. “He will create and make things happen. He had a spell in America where he has been incredible, in great form. The lad is unknown and sometimes that’s a good thing because you don’t know what you are going to get.
