NEWSPost India

Acting skipper Richard Dunne wants Aston Villa to re-establish their credentials as a Premier League force. Villa have finished sixth for the past three seasons but a lengthy injury list has left them in midtable - five points off the top five but also just three points off the relegation zone.

Dunne believes the next few weeks will be crucial in defining which way Villa’s season will go after collecting 10 points from nine matches under new manager Gerard Houllier. And he is looking to Saturday’s home match against title-chasing Arsenal to kickstart the campaign.

Higher Half

The Republic of Ireland international said: “Between now and the end of January, it is important to pick up points because the league will start to spread itself out. “We want to make sure we are in the higher half of the table and we can then push on to hopefully make another top six or seven finish.

“But, once you get on a run of defeats, it’s really difficult to get out. “Against Arsenal, we need to put in the same performance as against Manchester United.” Dunne, deputising as skipper for the injured Stiliyan Petrov and his stand-in Nigel Reo-Coker, admitted: “It’s a game we need to win really otherwise we could be level with the bottom three.

“We need to win games and start setting our stall out that we’re going to be a side who are going to have a successful season. “It’s about us. We have to stand up and show what we can do.

“We did it last weekend for the last 15 minutes against Blackburn but we need to do it from the start. That’s when you can control games.”