Brunt wants to break Villa hoodoo
Tuesday 26th April 2011, 11:20AM BST.
Chris Brunt has kicked off Albion’s derby-day countdown by insisting they can add their Villa hoodoo to the list of curses they have broken this season.
The Baggies meet their local rivals at the Hawthorns on Saturday looking to beat Villa for the first time in 26 years.
But, after helping them end long winless runs against Arsenal and Liverpool already this term, captain Brunt believes Albion can also consign their Villa jinx to the scrapheap.
He said: “We’ve put a few of those statistics to bed this season – the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool – and it would nice to turn that one over as well.
“If we beat them we go above them and there is always a bit of pride to play for in the Midlands.
“We’ve got to take that into consideration and it’s up to us to get the extra points we need to make sure we’re safe going into the last three games of the season.”
Saturday’s draw at Tottenham took Albion to 40 points for the first time in their Premier League history, but the unpredictable nature of the season means they are still not safe mathematically.
And Brunt is looking to end any remaining doubts as soon as possible.
He said: “Local pride is a big thing among the punters but the most important thing for us is to make sure we’re in the Premier League next season.
“If we can win this week and ensure we stay in the league, that’s what we want to do.
“We don’t want to wind the season down and find that in each game we still need a point.
“We want to get it done as soon as possible.”
Brunt admitted Albion have a score to settle after playing well and losing in their 2-1 defeat at Villa Park in December.
He said: “I think Villa had two shots on goal and scored two goals against us at Villa Park, but things were just going badly for us at that stage of the season.
“It would be nice to put that right.”
UK Sport
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