Express & Star

John Carew has dismissed suggestions Villa’s slump has been caused by tiredness.

Saturday’s defeat to Sunderland meant Villa have collected just two points from 12 and have failed to score in their last two games.

Villa have the smallest squad in the Premier League and several players such as Gareth Barry, Gabriel Agbonlahor and Ashley Young have struggled to keep up their best form in recent weeks.

But Carew said: “We shouldn’t be more tired than any other team.

“It’s difficult to know but we’re so well-trained we should be able to cope. We’re not playing in European competition, so we should be 1000 per cent in each match.

“That’s not too much to ask, we should be able to put 100 per cent in each match until the end of the season.

“That’s what everyone expects as well, but like everyone else, I’m wondering why we’re performing like we are.

“We produced a bad performance against Middlesbrough which was strange coming after the Arsenal game which had given us a boost.

“Arsenal was such a positive experience and we got great belief and should have responded better, but it’s gone the other way – we’ve been the opposite.

“If we were poor against Middlesbrough, we should have learned our lesson on Saturday, so I don’t think that (taking opponents lightly) was the problem.”

And the big Norwegian striker is convinced strike partner Gabriel Agbonlahor will return to scoring form soon.

Agbonlahor has gone 11 games without netting and has just one in 18.

“That happens for footballers,” said Carew. “He’s a great forward with a great future and he’s been in the England squad, so he should have all the confidence in the world.

“He just has to continue and I’m 100 per cent sure the goal will arrive very soon.”

Carew is convinced the Sunderland result could have been different if his early overhead kick had gone in instead of going just wide.

“If my shot in the first few minutes had gone in, it would have been a different match,” he maintained.

“We felt like having the ball and we were trying to get at them – sometimes the margins are so fine in football.

“We really respected Sunderland – they were really up for it and we needed a strong performance.”