Villa have plenty left to play for
Friday 23rd April 2010, 12:04PM BST.
Two routine league games out of the way, one biggest of the season to look forward to, writes Villa’s Sporting Star columnist Dave Woodhall.
Beating Portsmouth last Sunday was no great surprise. They had virtually their reserve side out and what first teamers were playing have got more than one eye on the cup final.
So should we, but that’s enough of that for this year. Hull were potentially more difficult opponents, still fighting to avoid relegation and with a midweek trip into the bargain.
Yet both games were won with little difficulty, and with another promising look at the flourishing talents of Nathan Delfouneso. The other results weren’t too bad, particularly Manchester United’s last-minute winner against City, so that fourth place is still just about possible.
Which leads us on to…… Sunday at midday.
Yet again we have a messed-around-with kick-off time, this one on police ‘advice’. It says a lot that the police can order us around in such a fashion and we’re happy to accept it’s for our own good, but enough of the politics.
Villa v Blues is always a bit interesting, although the build-up to this one has been lower-key than usual. It’s also strange in that it’s the first time for years that the game has meant more to us than to them.
Blues’ season is virtually over and to be fair they’ve done better than anyone could have expected. Alex McLeish has done a good job in steering them to a mid-table position without any of the behind the scenes drama and histrionics we’ve come to expect from St Andrews.
And we all know the reason for that.
Villa, on the other hand, still have the prospect of a Champions League spot dangling in front of us.
UEFA have kindly ruled that Portsmouth can’t play in Europe next season so we’re already virtually qualified for the Europa League – although whether that’s a good thing or a bad one is open to debate – and now it’s a question of whether we can improve on sixth. Or rather, no question about it.
For Sunday, the prospect of defeat is unthinkable.
UK Sport
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