Villa boss Gerard Houllier has made a passionate battle cry to everyone at the club to give their all for the “eight wars” they face between now and the end of the season.

The claret and blues are a point above the Premier League relegation zone as they prepare for the trip to face Everton at Goodison Park on Saturday.

But, despite their position, the manager is confident he is the man to take the club forward and passionately expressed his determination for them to achieve a positive finish.

Houllier said: “Passion, desire, togetherness and the will to surpass oneself and to give more to the club and the fans – these are relevant words in these circumstances.

“Everybody is concerned about the position but we are not dreamers. There is a new league starting for us now of eight games and the mood is positive.

“But you can only win if you are positive about what you are doing but whatever we say only the results and the actions are what we will be judged on.

“You have to remain positive. You cannot spend your time reflecting on what happened. We have eight games ahead of us now.

“This is our league and these eight games are vital for our future – we know that, we know where we stand and what we have to do now.

“We know we have eight games, eight fights, eight battles and eight wars to get the points.”

The Villa fans are already planning to lend an extra hand to the team’s plight after a supporter-led campaign to ‘be the 12th man’ started to gather pace.

And Houllier is aware just how much partisan Holte Enders can play their part over the forthcoming games.

He said: “I have heard about this initative and it is fantastic that they want to something to help the team in terms of supporting that will help us.

“The fans, in terms of what they do, with the way they are vocal with their support is massive for us and can really lift everybody.

“Their influence is so important for us, especially at this stage of the season. They are fantastic supporters and with their support they can be the 12th man every game.

“In other words we can play with 12 men every game we have left to play now.”