Martin O’Neill has spoken about Saturday’s opponents Blackburn Rovers and says
‘They are still in contention for a European place themselves – and that might tell you something in that they are but are only five points clear of us. But under Hughes they have done fantastically well, really well. They have the ability once they lose a couple of games to bounce back, which they have shown before. They also have the ability to go on a prolonged run and they are getting a really good spirit about them. All credit to the manager. I think he has done very, very well indeed.’
He also points out the same person as the Vital Blackburn editor Hughes Da Man did saying England Under-21 international Matt Derbyshire is the player to fear.
‘He is on song, absolutely. He came into the side at the start of the FA Cup run when he scored a few goals at Luton. He came to mind and has progressed very well since then.’
O’Neill admits Blackburn will be hard to contain but Villa must focus on the second half against Everton which he describes as ‘good’.
Barry added: ‘We can take encouragement from the second half show against Everton going into Easter. We’ve got Blackburn and Wigan, two tough games, but games we can get something from. Easter is crucial. The way the results went last weekend caused us a bit of bother. Teams are creeping up from behind but a couple of good victories over this weekend means you are looking forward rather than back. You can never be too safe and until we get the points, you can’t relax. But even if we get safe we need to put in good performances for the fans and show what we are going to do next season as well.’
Come on the Villa!
Share this article
Related Articles
