Must win. Two words that have been bandied around for a while now. Even when we put a mini run together last month, thanks to everyone else around us picking up points as well, all games still remained must win.
Due to Fabrice Muamba’s collapse, we find ourselves with two games in hand and our destiny still ours to decide. But that will come to an end with a defeat in Birmingham tonight. Not only that, but three points for Villa should see them safe for another season. A win for us, however, would put us just three points behind them with a game in hand and although that wouldn’t move us out of the relegation zone, it could give us the final shot in the arm that we need. He said, clutching at straws.
Vital Quotes:
‘We are not a team that has been struggling for form. We have taken ten points from eighteen available over the last six games and if we return that over over the remaining five fixtures it will be enough to stay in the Barclays Premier League. It’s as simple as that.‘ Ten from eighteen, one from nine. St Owen, with the usual message from our sponsor, proves that you can twist any stat to make your point. As I just have.
‘Our record at home is rotten. It’s not something we are proud of. It’s something that we can’t do anything about now but we’ve got to do something about the next game. We’ve got to go all out to win it.‘ Don’t you worry Big Eck. Bolton are coming.
Aston Villa Team News:
James Collins and Gabby Agbonlahor both limped off during Villa’s nil nil with Sunderland on Saturday but the latter is expected to recover for the game whilst Collins will sit it out. Darren Bent is out for the season, which can only be good news.
Player to watch: Emile Heskey
‘You what?’ I hear you cry. Emile Heskey? The Emile Heskey? Barn door, banjo and cow’s backside Emile Heskey?
Well, yes. If we are down to the bare bones in midfield, Villa are down to it in the front line. Heskey may be a lumbering great gallah with the turning circle of a tug boat, pulling another tug boat pulling an Atlantic Cruiser pulling a land mass the size of Hawaii, but he has scored some goals in his time. Aerially he could give us problems, particularly at set pieces. And we know how good we are at defending them.
Bolton Wanderers Team News:
Dazza Prazza is still out with a virus and both Ryo and Mavies picked up knocks against Swansea. If Mavies doesn’t play, or even if he does, there may be a chance we will see Josh Vela for more than thirty seconds.
Rumours abound that Tuncay has sodded that for a lark and gone back to Germany. He has packed Marvin Sordell in his carry on.
Player to watch: Martin Petrov
All that is good in Bolton’s play at the moment is coming down the left hand side. If there was a striker to get onto his crosses rather than the occassional midfielder, we wouldn’t be in this mess. It may be worthwhile going, whisper it, 4-4-2??
Match Facts & Stats
Villa hold a 60-54 lead in the league head to head’s and have won 40 of them at home compared to Bolton’s 16 away wins, the last of which was in 2006. Since then we have suffered a 4-2, 4-0 and 5-1 defeats, but that run was halted last season by a 1-1 draw and we have, of course, won their already in the League Cup.
Bolton’s leading scorer in the fixture is Joe Smith with fifteen between 1912 and 1925. In the Premier League it is SKD with five.
Ref Watch:
Chris Foy. Something, something, something, not Clattenburg.
Match Prediction:
2-0 to set us up for an assault on seventeenth.
Next Fixtures:
Sunderland away on Saturday.