Grant Holt tips Aston Villa strikers to spark off a revival

Villa fans have been encouraged by the upturn from Christian Benteke & Co in recent games against Arsenal, Liverpool and Albion and, although defeat at Everton bucked that trend, the new man is telling them not to fret.

Holt's timing could not be better as the next two games against West Ham and Cardiff give Villa the chance to banish any survival worries – or get sucked into a scrap now involving half the Premier League.

And after playing alongside Benteke and Andreas Weimann, the 32-year-old loan recruit said: "It's all about just getting the confidence back up for them.

"When you're not scoring, some forwards take it to heart a little bit. It takes away from your game. You start thinking about the goals and I think that's what's happened.

"But they're now doing things that probably they did last year and just came naturally. They're doing little things and tricks, and even in training you can see it's coming off. I'm sure that between now and the end of the season you'll see the best of those two."

Holt's role in the first of those clashes, at home to West Ham, will become a little clearer when manager Paul Lambert gets the verdict on fitness doubt Gabby Agbonlahor. But he knows there could not be a more valuable time to open his account for the club which has given him a second chance at this level.

Holt added: "It would be nice to score. It doesn't matter where it is or where it comes, it would be nice to get a goal.

"We're happy with the three games if you put them in context, with the four points that we got out of them.

"As a group we're confident, we're looking forward to the next two games. I know they're going to be different but it's good to be involved in it.

"Every fan watching wants to see players working hard.

"Obviously you want everything else to go with that, but you want the team to work hard. We're always doing that."