Aston Villa completed the signing of Blackburn defender Stephen Warnock for an undisclosed fee believed to be around £8 million.

Warnock has put pen to paper on a four-year contract which will keep him at Villa Park until the summer of 2013.

Warnock underwent a medical and agreed personal terms at Villa earlier today ahead of making the move to midlands club.

A Villa statement read: "Aston Villa have completed the signing of Stephen Warnock on a four year deal.

Warnock is relishing the challenge of breaking into the Barclays League top four.

He told AVTV: "The main aim is pushing for that top four spot. That's the ambition.

"The manager is buying some really talented players - young and ambitious - and I'm sure they will see that top four spot as a target and goal.

"Playing in Europe is important - playing against the top players on the continent is fantastic - and there's no better stage to do that than on the Champions League.

"If we could do that, it would be a great achievement."