Gary Cahill feels he owes Villa everything

Chelsea defender Gary Cahill admits he owes Aston Villa his career – but that won't stop him gunning them down tomorrow.

The England star – now performing on the international stage with England – has already shot down one of his former clubs this week as the Blues killed off Bolton in the Capital One Cup.

Now he's relishing the chance to lock horns with his first club as Chelsea look to power on at the top of the Premier League.

Cahill said: "I had a great time at Villa, more than anything with the youth team. I owe a lot to them, they brought me through and I had a great time, so I'm looking forward to it.

"They've had a great start to the season, apart from their last result (a 3-0 defeat by Arsenal), so it's going to be another tough test for us."

Villa are three points behind Chelsea in third place going into the weekend fixtures and Cahill hopes his side's positive start to the season will continue at Stamford Bridge.

He added: "It's great to have a winning mentality. If you have a couple of sticky results, it puts the pressure on going into games.

"But at the moment we're unbeaten, we're going well and we should have confidence, especially playing in front of our own fans at Stamford Bridge."

Villa, having beaten Liverpool on their last away-day, go into the clash still in optimistic mood and won't fear Chelsea after last season's efforts. They were edged out at Stamford Bridge 2-1, thanks to a Branislav Ivanovic winner but beat Jose Mourinho's men 1-0 at Villa Park in a match which saw Willian and Ramires sent off.

And Ashley Westwood – who missed the defeat to Arsenal last weekend due to the infamous virus which sapped stamina levels – says they have nothing to fear.

He said: "Last year we went there in the middle of a tough run of games, we played them in midweek and we thought we should have got something out of the game.

"We were unlucky then, but we'll go there this year with confidence again, just as we did against Liverpool at Anfield.

"If we play like we did last year at Stamford Bridge, going there and unsettling them and taking them away from their game, then we can hit them with Gabby (Agbonlahor) and the other quick players we have up front."