Wolves defender Ronald Zubar has kicked off the countdown to Saturday’s derby against Villa by insisting all the pressure is on their opponents.

Zubar helped Wolves ease their own survival concerns, with Saturday’s welcome 2-1 win at Burnley that put Mick McCarthy’s side three points clear of the drop zone with nine games left.

The club still have plenty to do, but the former France under-21 international reckons Villa have more expectations on their shoulders as they aim to claw back ground in their bid to cement a Champions League spot.

Liverpool’s 4-1 win over Portsmouth last night made things tougher for O’Neill’s men, who are six points adrift of the crucial fourth spot but have two games in hand on Tottenham, the current occupiers of the position.

Zubar said: “Villa will be expected to win because they’re at home, so there won’t be any pressure on us. We go to Villa Park trying to do the same things – stay strong on the pitch and stay in the game.

“They’re a good team – they’ve just played in the Carling Cup final and are seventh in the table. Villa is another difficult one, but we’ve been doing well away from home.

“It’s a special game because it’s a derby. When we played at home it was a very tough game and we managed to draw. After a point against Stoke they will be wanting to beat us.

“But we have a good feeling after Burnley and will be ready to battle again for 90 or 95 minutes. We have to try to keep a clean sheet and take our chances when we create them.”

But Zubar insisted Wolves would not be resting on their laurels after beating Burnley as there were plenty of battles ahead.

He said: “It was a good performance but we still have more to do. It was an important win, because for the last couple of months we’d played very well and had created chances to score.

“We have to keep it going, because we’ve got nine more big games to come. We need to keep it going and stay solid. Everyone is working on the defensive side from the front players back to the defence and goalkeeper, chasing the ball and doing what they can.

“We all want to keep playing like we have been doing for the last couple of months.”