The central defender had to wait four months to break into the Barclays Premier League side and was conscious that another below-par showing could have seen him discounted by Villa boss Martin O’Neill.

But that analysis of the way Davies played against the Foxes has driven him on - and now Capello has recognised his potential after half a dozen games.

Davies told PA Sport: “I knew if I had had another bad game, then it would have been a long time before I was given another chance by Martin O’Neill.

“It has been a gruelling four months waiting for my opportunity but I was always confident that I could do well.

“But, if you do have a bad game, then you never know when your chance is going to come again.

“The manager spoke to me about my state of mind after what I said about being a pub player and I replied ’that’s the way I deal with things’ and he accepted that.

“He knows now it was the right thing for me to say because it has been a driving force that has pushed me to do so well now that I am in the team.

“I had been playing well in the reserves and then to come up against Leicester, who with no disrespect are not Manchester United, and do so poorly led to me saying ’if you don’t do well against Leicester, how are you going to do play in the Premier League.”’

Davies, who will be part of the Villa side in tomorrow’s Barclays Premier League match at Fulham, said: “I never doubted my decision in coming here. It was frustrating not to play.

“If I had seen the lads in the team not doing well and I wasn’t getting a chance, then I would have thought ’what have I got to do to play.’

“But the lads in the team were flying and that is why we are in a good position now. I’ve been fortunate to step into a good team doing well with a bit of momentum and basically we’ve just got to keep it going.”

Ashley Young will miss his first league game of the season while serving a one-game ban for incurring five bookings but Shaun Maloney is available after shaking off a foot injury.