Petrov keen for Carew to remain with Aston Villa

Carew has been linked with a move away from Villa after falling down the pecking order at Villa Park, following the arrival of Gerard Houllier.

“Is there any chance Carew might get back involved? You know what, I hope so, I hope so. It is really frustrating,” admitted Petrov.

“I won’t go into details but, I’ll tell you what, if John wants to show these fans that he wants to belong here, he is going to help us because we really need him.

“At times like this you need characters and he is definitely one of them and we hope we can have him because he has been a big figure here. We’ve missed him.”

He added: “Well, I think they (Houllier and Carew) need to sort that between themselves. They are grown men and everything is about the club.

“If you want to have someone in the team, you just need to go and see what he can do.

“If we have him, it will be great because he has scored goals for us and we know what John is capable of.

“If they can work it out, we will definitely welcome John because he is a big part of this team.

“Would I pick him? I’ll pick anyone that is available because we’ve got good players and we need everyone available now.”