Villa boss Tim Sherwood calls on players to 'man up'

Boss Tim Sherwood claims players need to "man up" if Villa are to climb out of trouble.

The claret and blues visit struggling Chelsea next and Sherwood claims he "needs some men to come out of the woodwork".

While accepting his role in Villa's sorry start to the season, the manager reckons it is time players started taking responsibility too.

"I like to try to win enough games rather than going out there not to be beat because I've done that a few times and you end up getting beat anyway," said Sherwood.

"I'd rather go to win but I need to find a team out of the squad who can go to places like Stamford Bridge and not be scared and are willing to put up a fight and be brave on the football.

"I'm learning all the time about them. They train hard, they're all good lads. I need some men to come out of the woodwork."

Sherwood has vowed to keep tinkering with his line-ups in a bid to find a winning formula adding: "At the moment I think it's only right that I keep changing it because we're not finding the wins."

Villa have meanwhile been linked with a £10million January move for Wolves striker Benik Afobe.