he underwent a full rehabilitation in bologna, and returned to the villa side in august 2006. villa hired martin o'neill as manager in august 2006, and he and laursen came to an understanding of giving laursen the freedom to train as he wanted, which helped prevent further injuries. laursen became an integral part of o'neill's plans, and the physical english playing style proved to suit laursen perfectly. laursen became an effective goalscorer for villa during the 2007–08 season, scoring six goals from his position of centre-back. this included three goals against tottenham hotspur, two of which came in a thrilling 4–4 draw at white hart lane, the other coming in a 2–1 home victory. laursen agreed terms on a new two-and-a-half-year deal with aston villa in january 2008. he played all villa's matches, except for league cup games, during the 2007–08 season and he was voted the supporters' player of the year in 2008.