Agathe joins until January

The 31-year-old Frenchman played under O'Neill during his five-year reign at Celtic and has agreed a deal at Villa until January. He has shown promise for the club's reserves while on trial at Villa Park and O'Neill told Villa's website: "I think he has the talent and hunger to get in the side and do a job. This is a big chance and challenge for him, he's got the deal now with the chance to earn something longer term.

"He's naturally fit and he's very quick. When his confidence is up he can run past most people. Now he just has to work on his match fitness." Agathe underwent a trial at Blackburn during the summer and offers a reasonable way of Villa strengthening their squad having missed out on the transfer deadline.