Stiliyan Petrov returns to the scene of his outstanding Villa debut on Sunday hoping he has finally made the Barclays Premier League breakthrough.

Until recently the Bulgarian international has rarely recaptured the form that saw him make a Claret and Blue bow to remember at Upton Park in August 2006.

Now he is enjoying the best spell of his Villa career and hopes a string of improved performances are a sign of things to come next season.

He said: "The last two or three weeks have been great - apart, of course, from the defeat against Wigan. But, when I wasn't playing and the manager left me out of the squad, I didn't give up.

"I'm a positive guy and I always look at myself. I don't blame anybody else. I'm the only one that can push myself forward and make things right.

"I got my chance again, the manager moved me into the middle and I started playing well again. You can ask everybody at the club but I've been coming here every morning happy, laughing and joking even when I wasn't playing. I hope the Villa fans will see more from me and I'm hoping it will be a massive season next year."

Petrov earned his reputation with Celtic as a goalscoring midfielder but his recent revival has come in a midfield holding role - a job he has taken to with relish.

He added: "I spoke with Nigel Reo-Coker and said I could play for another 15 years in that role because you don't move much.

"I've been playing this position for all my international career, so it's not new to me, and it's good for me that things are going well."