Blog: Sense of expectation at Aston Villa as we target trio of wins

With Aston Villa facing Stoke City at the weekend, there's a sense of unease. Last weekend, the Villans beat Chelsea - a result that many didn't expect. However, as Villa fans know, never expect too much from the club.

After all, despite the win at Chelsea, Villa will have to work hard to beat their opponents on Sunday, and some of the fans may well worry about the quality of football on display.

Against West Ham United, Villa came unstuck when the ball was kicked long, a long term facet of how Stoke also play the game. Yes, Mark Hughes is now in charge, and many suggest that he is trying a different approach, but it will take more than a few months to convince most football fans that Stoke are playing the game the way they think it should be.

Instead, Villa could face a potential of three home wins in a row - a possibility that seemed increasingly remote during some of the darker periods this season. Whilst Villa aren't out of the relegation battle just yet, just two more wins could be enough to secure another season of Premier League football.

However, Villa fans will be starting to feel much like Bill Murray did in the film Groundhog Day as the same situation repeats over and over. For the past four seasons - to varying degrees - the club have spent more time in the bottom half of the table than the top half, an issue that has to change.

In saying that, I may well sound like a broken record, but there are numerous fans who have stated that they are close to deciding to walk away from the club due to how things are going.

Some might suggest such threats are not the best solution to make a club come back from problems, but it is hard to argue against a fan who spends hundreds of pounds a season to watch a significant portion of poor football.

The optimist in me says that things are going to change, that Randy Lerner will fund the club - albeit at a lesser level than the highs of the Martin O'Neill era - and that there will be slow, but sure, progress up the table.

For example, if Villa do manage to stay in the same 10th place they currently occupy, such an achievement shouldn't go unnoticed. Yes, the margins are hardly massive, but 10th place is 10th place, and it is far better than 13th or 16th place obviously.

So as Villa go up against Stoke this weekend, there may be a sense of expectation of how the club can build things. Will they manage to make it three home wins in a row, or will it be a case of Villa returning to their frustrating, if predictable, erratic form.

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.