By Dan Harrison

Stiliyan Petrov hailed the Kevin MacDonald effect after Villa's caretaker boss got off to a dream start with a 3-0 win over West Ham.

The skipper was full of praise for MacDonald's impact since he took over from Martin O'Neill on a temporary basis last week.

The opening day clash could not have gone any better for the former Liverpool Double winner on his debut in the dugout, with the claret and blues taking the Hammers apart thanks to goals from Petrov, Stewart Downing and James Milner.

Petrov admits the squad were keen to impress their new gaffer on Saturday after preparations had gone so well on the training pitch.

"He said before the game he trusts every single one from the first until the last and everybody is going to play during the season," said the Bulgarian.

"He has got ideas about how we need to play. We do that in training and we know what you need to do exactly on the field - it makes things even easier.

"He can only pick 11 but when you come out on the pitch you need to show you deserve to be in the team.

"We played really well. We pushed really hard. We played some nice stuff and if we keep going that way I can't see why he can't make it his own.

"We moved the ball quicker, we played much quicker, we try to hurt teams and we don't try to just play on the counter attack - we tried to move the ball quick in the middle of the park and in the final third.

"We created a lot of chances and we had plenty of chances - it could have been a different result, not just 3-0."

Petrov was also glowing in his praise of Marc Albrighton after the winger flourished on his first Premier League start.

Albrighton played a part in all three Villa goals and was a constant menace to the West Ham defence.

It was a proud afternoon for a number of the club's future stars.

Ciaran Clark also impressed in defence, while Barry Bannan and Andreas Weimann were introduced from the bench for their top flight debuts.

"He [Albrighton] knew he was going to start and he went out and played like he had played 100 games in the Premier League," added the captain.

"He was really calm, he used his strength, he was taking the ball, he was passing and dribbling past people and he was creating chances for us.

"Kev always believed that the future in every club is the youth.

"He has been working these kids for a long, long time and I think they showed what they can do.

"You've seen here - Ciaran Clark and Marc Albrighton were outstanding and I hope they can keep going the same way."