Villa blog: Is the impossible possible?

A local derby seems the perfect opportunity to see if Aston Villa's recent form is a sign of the future, or a fortunate blip on the way to relegation. Villa blogger Matt Turvey looks at the role of confidence in a potentially hot blooded derby match.

And so unto the Baggies.

With West Bromwich Albion the next in line for Aston Villa, everything is on the line.

OK, that's not entirely true, but pride counts for a lot - bragging rights are important if you're a local and you have to (likely) suffer rival fans "giving it large" from the other side of the desk.

As it happens, Villa are in a good position to be taking on Albion. Yes, Villa's haul of points to date is meagre, but there are positives to be taken.

For example, nobody expected to get anything from the Crystal Palace but Villa took three points. Doubters said there would be nothing gathered from the Leicester City game but the Villans came away with a point. Even winning against Wycombe Wanderers - as lowly a team as they are - was a banana skin avoided.

Keeping hold of confidence is a key part of how Villa need to think if they are to stand any chance at all of getting out of the relegation zone. Looking purely at the numbers, it would be easy to be nihilistic and say the season is over, but until it is mathematically impossible, Villa must keep going.

If, for example, they can get a win at the Hawthorns, the gaps will close. Villa will still be stuck in 20th place, but a step closer to safety. On the balance of things, as bleak as the context of this season is, progress is progress - most importantly, progress in terms of points gathered.

It may well turn out that Villa hit a brick wall come 4:45pm on Saturday, but plugging away, working for each and driving on with faith is going to be the difference between success and failure.

Remi Garde, for example, has been slated in previous matches for not knowing what his best lineup was. As things have turned out, he's starting to find the best mix and that can only be good for fans.

Does that mean that Villa will pull off an epic run of unforeseen proportions? Probably not, but even getting to 17th - as lowly a target as that may well seem - would be perceived as a miracle. For the media and many fans, the Villans have been written off as gone for months, despite it being January so there's certainly a point to prove - an incentive that should be a driving force for the team assuming the right spirit can be cultivated.

Prior to recent games, that spirit has seemed largely absent, and the foul mouthed tirades hurled at the players whilst justified by some fans threatened to turn things from bad to worse.

As it stands, Villa as a club have responded. It would be foolish to suggest that the way forward is to scream abuse at team buses each week, but it is remarkable to think that results have been improved since.

Villa have an opportunity this weekend to signal to the others in the relegation fight that it isn't just going to be two teams plus the Villans going down. If they can get something against the Baggies, not only will pride be restored, albeit in a small form, then confidence levels may well continue to grow.

You can follow Matt Turvey's regular opinions at his own site, Aston Villa Life at http://www.astonvillalife.com, via the site's Twitter account @astonvillalife, or via his own Twitter account @mturvey_star.