Stewart Downing believes “personal pride” should be all the motivation his Villa team-mates need to stave off the threat of Premier League relegation.

Villa are a point above the drop zone and are still licking their wounds after three defeats on the bounce which have heaped the pressure on manager Gerard Houllier.

The 26-year-old winger insisted the players have to start to take some of the responsibility.

Downing said: “It doesn’t matter who the manager is, it is personal pride that is at stake. I don’t want to be relegated and I don’t want to be down at the bottom of the table all the time.

“Obviously someone like Darren Bent has left Sunderland to come here and expects big things and it isn’t happening at the minute so I think it is more personal pride.

“The manager is the one who takes the flak because he is the one at the helm, but I think he can deal with that.

“He has experienced it as well and been there with us, so he has to be positive and to get the players going. His job and our job is to get everyone to stick together.

“We’ve not been getting the luck recently. Even from the beginning of the season we should be killing teams off and haven’t which is probably why we’re in the situation we are in.

“I’ve already mentioned the fact we have got suspensions and injuries before, so I don’t want to make excuses, but I think we still have the quality to win games.”

Downing, who is currently preparing for England’s Euro 2012 qualifier against Wales in Cardiff, also admitted he understood the angry reaction of the fans following Villa’s defeat to Wolves.

He said: “Fans are entitled to have their say if they pay the money and sometimes you just have to block it out and play your game.

“If you look at Bolton the other week their fans were getting their backs a little bit and next minute they are winning so it happens everywhere.

“Obviously we have been a bit unlucky but I can understand the frustrations of the fans.

“They looked on it as a derby and a win-able game so you can sympathise with that.”