VILLA captain Stiliyan Petrov has laughed off conspiracy theories that a Bulgarian football legend is trying to cap his record number of appearances – and pledged to play on for his country.

Petrov won what should have been his 104th international cap for his home nation last night when they lost 3-1 away in Switzerland in a Euro 2012 qualifier.

But there is debate over whether one of the appearances is valid and should count towards his total – the friendly against Estonia in February, which is the subject of a FIFA investigation because of suspicions about the match officials.

There are also theories that Borislav Mikhailov, who is now the president of the Bulgarian Football Union, was trying to downgrade some of Petrov’s caps to preserve his own record of 102 appearances.

But Petrov has dismissed claims that the confusion over his tally is the work of Mikhailov, the former Bulgarian captain and goalkeeper, who was famous for wearing a toupee.

“A lot of people have been saying that and I don’t believe it,” said Petrov.

“He’s a nice guy. It’s stupid that people write these things between me and him and it’s nothing like that.

“What he achieved as a player and a person is great. It’s about me playing football. If I break it I break it, if not so be it.”

Petrov, who made his Bulgarian debut in 1998, is determined to play on for his country despite their poor qualifying campaign ruling them out of next summer’s tournament in Poland and Ukraine.