Aston Villa have taken a gamble by offering to rehabilitate the career of former Crewe Alexandra teenager John Malpass, who failed a random drugs test just under a year ago.

The gifted 18-year-old midfielder, a product of the Gresty Road club's renowned Academy of future stars, was charged by the Football Association last May after his sample showed traces of the Class A drug ecstasy.

Malpass was ordered to undergo two months of treatment and counselling followed by further tests and although Crewe stood by him at the time, he was released at the end of last season.

Villa are satisfied that the youngster is now clean and having taken him under their wing. They have been particularly impressed with his performances so far on trial. He was a substitute for the FA Premier League reserve side that won 1-0 at Newcastle United on Tuesday night and helped Villa reach the quarter-finals of the FA Youth Cup.

Malpass joins a burgeoning group of Villa youngsters which includes new arrivals Liam Ridgewell and Cameron Stuart, signed respectively from West Ham United and York City this week for nominal fees.

The challenge for Malpass is to win a permanent contract and if he needs any advice on how to stay on the straight and narrow, he only needs to consult Paul Merson.

Villa's former Arsenal and England midfielder confessed to cocaine addiction and alcohol problems in a well-chronicled fall from grace six years ago. The Gunners stood by him, as Villa manager John Gregory did as well several years later.

Merson always maintained that clubs should back players who succumbed to the temptation of drugs.

'I think that clubs should give them a year to get themselves together,' he said. 'When people break into shops or commit other crimes, half the time they are on drugs. I think if only the authorities could send them to treatment centres instead of prison it might make them into better people.

'Arsenal stood by me. They were brilliant towards me, along with the FA and everybody else. If Arsenal had thrown me out, what would be the point of me going into treatment?

'If they hadn't stood by me, I would have had nothing left to live for. I would probably be dead by now.'

Only two players have tested positive since the FA doubled the number of doping tests - Northampton Town's Justin Georgelin for cannabis and Bolton's Matthew Stephan for amphetamines.

For Malpass to fail his drugs test was a devastating blow for both Crewe and the promising teenager. Although only a first-year scholar with the Academy, he was on the brink of breaking into the first team.

Always on the lookout for discarded talent, Villa were the first club to offer him a fresh start.

An FA spokesman confirmed yesterday: 'John Malpass is now at Aston Villa and subject to target testing for the next two years. But we are naturally hoping that his problems are behind him.'

All the tests so far have proved negative.