But the 29-year-old impressed when returning to action in the final quarter of last season and has looked sharp in training during Villa’s tour of North America.

And the Denmark international, who is entering the final year of his contract, wants to be a regular performer for Villa during the 2007-2008 campaign.

“The goal for me this season has to be that I play, not necessarily every game, but many games. I want to really be a regular player because I haven’t done that yet in my three years at Villa.

“It’s not good enough just to play a few games and play them well. I need to play many games now. I want a season where I play every weekend and every midweek game. I need to play regularly.

“I know I have said that before but I really feel fit and prepared for the season. Now I have to keep working hard on my fitness.”

Laursen believes Villa’s trip to Canada and the United States will be a worthwhile exercise in preparing for the Barclays Premier League opener with Liverpool on August 11.

He said: “We will work hard out here but then we need the hard work and it’s good to be back working towards the start of the season.

“This time of the year is always hard, but we do it to make sure we are ready for the first day of the season and for the whole season.

“The new season is less that three weeks away so we have to step up our fitness. We’ve trained hard already but now we’re going into games and that’s exciting.”

Laursen admitted: “I was really looking forward to coming back again because we finished off last season so well and I personally played some good games during that spell.

“I enjoyed my long holiday but by the end I was really looking forward to starting up again. I want to show the Villa fans on a regular basis what I am capable of.”