Hendrie, 33, arrived in Indonesia in late January to take up a two-year contract.  He said it would take time to get accustomed to playing in football-mad Indonesia.

“On my first day here I met the lads training and we come off and the lads were having photographs with me,” he told Jakarta Casual blogspot.

“It’s a bit different to walking into Villa training or Derby training but the lads have been great with me, even though I don’t know what they’re saying half the time.”

The Liga Premira Indonesia (LPI) is an independent professional league launched last month but not sanctioned by the Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI). As such it’s not recognised by FIFA and the Indonesia FA won't allow any IPL players to represent the country.

The PSSI's official elite competition is the 18-club Indonesia Super League (ISL) featuring clubs such as Arema Indonesia and Pelita Jaya - itself back by billionaire Nirwan Bakrie.

“They’re trying to take over as the main league. It sounds good,” Hendrie said of the LPI. “It won’t happen overnight but if it does take off it’ll be a good league to play in.

“Overall I’ve been quite pleased but the pitches could be better. I don’t think it’s really classed as a through ball to be honest. It bounces everywhere.

“Around the box I’m going to shoot because I shot at training and it bobbled in over the keeper! I suppose those are the things you’ve got to look at and just adapt to it all.

Hendrie had been linked with Mansfield Town after becoming a free agent following a stint with Bradford City in League Two.

Capped once for England, he is not the only ex-Villa player who’s popped up on the Indonesian football radar. Former Indonesian national coach Peter Withe was a star at Villa Park in the 1980s.

Hendrie added: “I don’t think you can tackle over here, can you? And there are a few ten out of ten dives I’ve seen here.

“The football’s different, it’s a lot slower. You’ve got to judge a number of things, the pass, the bobble, all these things.

“But that’s okay, you just get on with it.”