Cuellar was making his first Premier League start of the season at Molineux

Aston Villa defender James Collins has praised the performance of Carlos Cuellar in the 2-1 victory at Wolves.

Former Rangers centre-back Cuellar, 29, replaced the injured Richard Dunne in the starting line-up for the West Midlands derby at Molineux.

"Carlos was called upon to play and he was superb," Collins told BBC WM.

"We knew it was going to be tough, coming up against a strong Wolves team. We knew they would make it difficult for us and I thought we defended well."

Cuellar spent much of the 2009/10 season playing at right-back, due to the outstanding partnership that Dunne and Collins formed in their first season at Villa Park.

The Spaniard, who joined Villa in August 2008, is approaching a century of appearances for Villa.

Emile Heskey grabbed a late winner for Gerard Houllier's side and Collins believes his form, as well as that of Ashley Young, could propel Villa towards another top-six finish in the Premier League.

"Ashley's a top-class player and he's showing that week-in, week-out now," added the Wales international. "The manager has said to us to get the ball into him whenever we can because he makes things happen.

"Whenever Emile has been called upon for Villa, he's always done a superb job. He's a great professional and it's nice to see him getting his rewards."

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