The Dane, a Champions League winner with AC Milan in 2003, is set to captain Villa in the first leg of the second qualifying round tie in Reykjavik on Thursday night even if Gareth Barry is also picked to start.

Laursen is also one of the few players in manager Martin O'Neill's squad with substantial European experience.

And though Villa are overwhelming favourites to reach the UEFA Cup proper, Laursen knows Hafnarfjordur, the Icelandic league leaders in the middle of their current season, could cause an upset if not treated with respect.

He said: "We have a good draw and I think a good chance to go through but we must approach it professionally.

"You can lose to anybody. They are professionals as well and will want to win the first leg at least.

"On a bad day, if we are not concentrating, then we can lose this kind of game. So we must be careful and take it seriously. We took Odense seriously in the Intertoto Cup and that is how we should always be.

"I don't really like to talk about attitude because we are all professionals and get a lot of money to play football. So we should go into each game with the right attitude. There is no excuse for not having it.

"And if we can progress as far as possible in Europe this season, that will help the development of the team and the individual players."

Laursen, who has publicly urged England star Barry to stay at Villa and forget dreams of an £18million move to Liverpool, leads a team lacking injured former Chelsea midfielder Steve Sidwell and ineligible new signings Carlos Cuellar and Luke Young.

But fellow newcomer Steve Sidwell is available having been named as the one additional player manager Martin O'Neill was allowed to pick after the August 4 UEFA deadline for the second qualifying round squad.

With the likes of Nigel Reo-Coker, Stiliyan Petrov, Ashley Young and Shaun Maloney available in midfield, O'Neill does not need Barry in Iceland as he tries to balance tonight's priorities and those of Sunday's Premier League start at home to Manchester City.

But he says of the player who was a 14th-minute substitute against Odense two weeks ago: "If he gets on the bus he has every chance of being picked."

That would make Barry ineligible to play for Liverpool in Europe until February.