Defender Luke Young has warned against Villa being on the receiving end of “new manager syndrome” when they take on Ricky Sbragia’s Sunderland on Saturday.
Sunderland’s fortunes have been revived since former Birmingham and Walsall player Sbragia took over the reins from Roy Keane in December, the Wearsiders climbing out of the relegation zone to 13th.
If Villa are to make it five straight Premier League wins on the road, they will have to end the north-east club’s unbeaten record at the Stadium of Light since Scotsman Sbragia took over.
Young said: “The team are enjoying the fruits of ‘new manager syndrome’ – their results have picked up since Ricky Sbragia came in.
“They probably under-achieved beforehand, because they have good players in their squad.
“The Stadium of Light is always a difficult place to go, with the crowd. They’re always loud and they get behind them, so it will be a tough game. They need to pick up points and they’ll be looking to do that against us.”
Having played for one of Sunderland’s big rivals, Middlesbrough, Young admits he could be in for a hostile reception from the home crowd.
He said: “I’m not sure if I’ll get any stick. I only had a year at Middlesbrough. I suppose it depends on how the game goes. I enjoyed my time up there. But they beat Boro at their ground and we only drew at ours.”
Villa’s last trip to the north-east ended in disappointment, when they suffered a 2-0 defeat by Sunderland’s bitter rivals Newcastle.
But high-flying Villa have won all four of their Premier League away games since – collecting more points on their travels than they have at Villa Park - despite having played more games at home.
Young said: “We seem to be tight at the back at the moment, which always gives you a chance. If we’re doing our job at the back then we know our boys up front, with their attacking play, give us a great chance of nicking a few goals.
“If we do our job, then we’re more than likely going to score. At the moment we just seem to be on a bit of a roll, winning games no matter how they’re coming.
“We’re not playing particularly well but we’re winning games, which is what all the top sides do. They pick up wins when they don’t play great football.
“We’re exactly where we want to be and where we have been for the past few months. Our goal is to win every single game we play and at the moment we’re doing that more often than not.”
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One Comment
If we dont improve our passing game, we could get stuffed by Sunderland.
Like West Brom, they play good passing on the ground football, the difference is, they know how to defend and attack.
Too many times, Villa play up in the air, sideways and backwards football, you cant score from there and their passing is atrocious.
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