Ron Vlaar is eager to strike up a good, immediate relationship with the Aston Vila support.

Vlaar sees them as the lifeblood of the club and vital in terms of lifting the lads throughout each 90 minutes.

He told Villa's website: "The fans are very important!

"We have to give them signals on the pitch and they can shout and go crazy for us. Then we will be hard to beat.

"We have to play as a team. That's vital. If you don't play like a team, it's hard to win games.

"We have to fight together and get a good spirit. That's the same as the relationship with the crowd.

"If that works, I believe we will be a hard team to beat, especially at home."