James Collins hoping for a repeat

James Collins hopes lightning can strike twice when Villa entertain Chelsea - even if they are up against the man he regards as the best striker in the world.

A year to the day since a 2-1 win over the Premier League's eventual champions on home turf, the sides meet again at Villa Park tomorrow.

Collins capped a Man of the Match display that day with the winning goal and, despite being on the receiving end of two heavy defeats to the Blues since - a 7-1 league drubbing and 3-0 FA Cup semi-final defeat, he is confident Gerard Houllier's team can deliver another result for fans to relish.

He said: "It's a similar situation to last time as we played them just after international duty.

"You know it's going to be a tough game against them but on the day we were superb.

"It was a good performance and topped off with a winning goal for myself. It doesn't seem too long ago now. I had all my family there and to get a win was tremendous.

"I remember the fans being unbelievable in the second-half and, in the last couple of minutes when we were under attack, the fans helped us right through. They play a massive part.

"Hopefully we can do the same again. You've got to look back on the way you played any time you beat Chelsea.

"The game we played against them at Stamford Bridge last year wasn't great but we've been away from each other for 10 days, had a couple of days of training and now we're really looking forward to it.

"It won't be ideal for them if their whole squad is away but we just have to concentrate on ourselves.

"Hopefully they have an off day and we can beat them again."

The Wales centre-back, who is nursing yet another black eye picked up while on international duty, and defensive partner Richard Dunne will be charged with the task of keeping tabs on Didier Drogba.

Collins said: "Didier is obviously going to be playing and he's one of, if not the best, centre forward in the world.

"I've had great games against him and whenever anyone asks me who's the toughest opponent he's always right up there.

"They've been a great team for years and years now. Any game you have against them is going to be among your toughest of the season.

"But that's what you're here to do. You shouldn't be nervous going into the game or not sleeping because this is where you want to be and who you want to play against."

While the bookmakers will inevitably give the Blues the edge going into the game, Collins insists a Villa victory would by no means represent an upset.

He continued: "If we beat them I don't think it will be a shock result, we've done it before and we'll do it again.

"We try not to think about opponents too much before the game, whether it's Chelsea or one of the lesser teams.

"I think the way we've started the season, a few of the results have not been what we've been looking for but certainly the way we've been playing football the last couple of games, we can give anyone a game."

Another cause for confidence is Villa's impressive home record against the current league leaders, with the Blues having beaten them just once in their last 11 visits.

Collins added: "Against many of the top teams in the league we have done well - going to Old Trafford last season and getting the 1-0 win - we've got to take confidence from those games."

One thing Collins admits he does need to work on is his goals contribution, having scoring just once, against Crystal Palace in the FA Cup, since netting against the champions.

He said: "I'm not scoring enough goals. That is a side of my game I need to improve.

"I should be looking to score five at least every season."