James Collins

He's cool, he's calm, he's quality.

While Richard Dunne was seen as the star name of Villa's two central defensive recruits last summer, his partner James Collins has been far from upstaged.

Collins played his part in an outstanding partnership with Dunne in 2009-10.

A few eyebrows were raised when Martin O'Neill snapped up the Welsh international from West Ham on deadline day, for a fee thought to be in the region of £5m.

But it quickly became clear the money was well spent. He could hardly have picked a better time to score his first goal in claret and blue.

His bullet header proved to be the decisive winner in a 2-1 win over Chelsea at Villa Park in October 2009. Collins had fond memories of Villa Park prior to joining Villa.

He started the 2006 FA Cup semi-final for Middlesbrough there, as West Ham booked their spot in the final.

From a young age, Collins had been tipped to reach the highest level. His debut for first club Cardiff City came when he was just 17.

Over the next three years he would make just 12 league appearances before establishing himself in the Bluebirds first team during 2003-04.

A string of commanding displays would eventually earn him a big move to the Hammers, where he spent a total of four seasons.