Aston Villa star Brett Holman promises Stoke a battle
Brett Holman has promised Aston Villa fans that his young team-mates will not shrink from the challenge of Stoke on Saturday.
Villa face Tony Pulis's powerful side, made even more dangerous by a three-match winning run that included victory at neighbours West Bromwich Albion last weekend.
But Holman says the youngest starting group in Villa's Premier League history are tough enough to deal with the threat.
"Everybody knows what the playing style is with Stoke, he said.
"Some of the lads in our dressing room might not be the oldest or the biggest but they're tough boys and we'll get stuck in," pledged the Aussie midfielder.
"We'll find a way to beat them and that will be by playing our style, on the ground, playing around them. I think we've got good enough players to do that and hopefully we can this weekend.
"We've got some tough lads and you saw it at QPR with the defensive line. Chris Herd came back and he was unbelievable and then you've got Ciaran Clark and Nathan Baker and they're all big boys. From that side of things, we're not short."
