Andi Weimann eyes Villa double over Manchester City

While the Villa striker remained coy on the subject, his reasons were obvious after coming under fire this season.

But two goals in the 3-1 weekend win over Hull helped Villa seal their Premier League status after another season of struggle.

And they go to Manchester City tonight free of the spectre of the drop – although that cannot cover-up what has been another wretched year.

Weimann has been one of the scapegoats of a campaign where more was expected of Villa and the players.

He bagged 12 goals last year and has six this term but, following his double, Weimann has defended himself against the doubters.

"You can see what I did," he says with a half-smile, when asked about his celebration.

"If you look I've scored five goals in the Premier League this year and I scored seven last season. So I know people say I haven't scored for a while but it's not like I scored many more last time.

"I only scored two more. We've still got two games to go so maybe I can better that. I scored more in the cup last year but this time we went out early so you can see it that way as well.

"Maybe last year teams didn't know who I was so many didn't look at me but now they think maybe they have to look at him.

"It wasn't easy last year but it's not like I scored many more goals. I hadn't scored for a while and I would like to get more but it mattered on Saturday and it was important to get the first goal."

The brace were his first goals since January – the 4-3 win over Albion – 13 games ago as Villa failed to claw their way out of serious trouble. Boss Paul Lambert admitted it has been harder than his debut campaign last year, a sentiment echoed by Weimann.

"Last year we were down the bottom pretty much most of the season but it seemed like we were getting more wins than this year," he said.

"When you don't win for six games you feel the pressure. But it didn't matter what happened in the rest of the season, we needed to win on Saturday.

"We put some brilliant performances in against some of the top teams and got some brilliant wins but we lost when we thought we shouldn't have. It hasn't been easy but Saturday was important."

And now the 22-year-old turns his attentions to derailing City's title charge – for a second time this season after scoring the winner in Villa's shock 3-2 victory over Manuel Pellegrini's side in September.

They have taken 10 points from the top four this season – a haul which has saved their Premier League skins. And Weimann said: "We'll definitely go there and we can play with freedom because we're safe – we won't go there and give in, we'll go there and see what we can produce. We beat them once so we'll see what we can do away."

Weimann is expected to lead the line with Agbonlahor struggling with injury with Jordan Bowery set to deputise after replacing him against the Tigers.

City are without Sergio Aguero (groin) but Yaya Toure is set to play despite coming off as a precaution at Everton following a lay-off.