Stiliyan Petrov, who turned in an impressive performance in helping Aston Villa win the Birmingham derby at St Andrew’s on Sunday, believes he is finally starting to show his best form.

The Bulgaria international was Martin O’Neill’s first major signing as Villa manager, joining from Celtic in a £6million move 15 months ago, but he has struggled to make an impact in the Barclays Premier League after a promising start.

He was even dropped earlier in the season and has struggled to win over the Villa fans upset at the sale of Steve Davis, a product of their academy, to Fulham in the summer.

But Petrov has been more like his old self since being recalled by O’Neill and impressed in Sunday’s 2-1 second city derby win over Birmingham, providing the low cross that Liam Ridgewell, the former Villa defender, turned into his own net to gift the visitors the lead.

“The manager brought me here to show what I can do,” Petrov said. “I know what I am capable of. I’ve been working hard and I'm really happy I’m showing what I can do. There is more to come because I know what my limits are and I’ll try to progress as much as I can.

“My own confidence is good. We all want to play. We know sometimes you go through bad periods and every time you get in the side you need to perform well and work hard.

“If the manager gives you a chance to play, you try to take it. I have now played the last three games and I hope I can keep playing well and keep my place.”

Olof Mellberg, the Villa defender, was also impressed. He said: “Is this a rebirth for Petrov? Yes, hopefully so. He started his Villa career really well. He had a great game on his debut against West Ham away and we saw his talent back then.

“He has got that ability in him and he has worked very hard and he works very hard in training and in games as well. It was important for Stiliyan when he came back into the side to do well for two or three games and that will definitely lift him.”