Premiership: Villa squad full of confidence - Stone

Steve Stone remains upbeat about Aston Villa’s Premiership prospects as they bid to end a run of six league games without a win against basement boys Ipswich tonight.

Recently-recalled Stone is convinced that John Gregory’s men can halt the mini slump which has seen them fall away from the race for Champions League places after once leading the Premiership.

And the former England midfielder claims you can trace Villa’s poor run back to the defeat at the hands of Newcastle at the start of November.

‘‘We had gone top of the table after beating Bolton 3-2,’’ recalled Stone. ‘‘We just thought we had to turn up on the day at Newcastle to win.

‘‘But I know that you can never do that at Newcastle, even when they do not have a good side, as they can absolutely batter you with the passion of their fans and the way the team plays.

‘‘They really do get up a head of steam and we simply did not rise to the challenge.

‘‘I wasn’t in the team that day, but it appeared as if Newcastle were saying to themselves ‘here is a team who are top of the league. We will show them.’

‘‘Since then a few games have gone against us, like the last two at West Ham and Arsenal when really we should have won both after leading in each game.

‘‘Mistakes were made in the second half of each game and we paid the penalty.

‘‘Players who make the right decisions when they are tired are those who play for the top teams but we do not appear to be getting the rub of the green.

‘‘The confidence in the team is there and no-one is hiding in training, which is a good sign.’’

Victory at Villa Park tonight against a side who have yet to win away in the Premiership would move Gregory’s team to within two points of fourth-placed Leeds and level with defending champions Manchester United.

Stone feels the midlanders could use a positive result as a springboard to get back among the Premiership pacesetters with a strong showing over Christmas.

‘‘I cannot stress enough that everyone in the club is very confident,’’ he said. ‘‘What we need is to put together a good run over 10 games.

‘‘We need this consistency as we have a massive belief in our ability that we can achieve something this season.

‘‘This is borne from the fact that the Premiership is still wide open as Fulham proved when they went to Liverpool a few days ago and picked up a draw. No game is a foregone conclusion.’’

Villa hope to be boosted by the return of goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel after a two-match absence with a calf injury.

But midfielder Hassan Kachloul is unavailable as he is still recovering after suffering internal bleeding in the brain following an incident in the Worthington Cup tie against Sheffield Wednesday.

Town were last season’s surprise package, finishing fifth on their return to the top flight after winning the Nationwide League Division One play-offs.

But, despite some decent performances in the UEFA Cup, George Burley’s men have struggled to recapture the form of their last campaign and now find themselves seven points adrift of fourth-bottom Southampton.

Burley sees no reason to throw in the towel on their Premiership status just yet, however.

‘‘That is only three or four wins and we are capable of doing that,’’ he said. ‘‘I have no fears of that.

‘‘We can win four or five games out of six or seven, although obviously we are not going to win them all.

‘‘Last season 35 or 36 points was enough, but who knows what it will be this time.

‘‘Villa are a big club who have done quite well so far, but we have got to go there looking for points.

‘‘It is an important time coming up for the team with a lot of games in a tight schedule and we need to start getting points under our belt.

‘‘Against Middlesbrough, Arsenal and Newcastle we played well and the managers of each said we did well but we need to turn performances into wins.’’

Ipswich have doubts over defender John McGreal (calf) and midfielder Jamie Clapham (knee).

Martijn Reuser played for the reserves in midweek, but is unlikely to figure while Ulrich Le Pen has started light training having suffered a gashed foot on his debut against Bolton last month.