Eric Black desperate to restore some Villa pride
Caretaker boss Eric Black wants to restore some pride to Villa after admitting he is "not in the equation" to become Remi Garde's permanent successor.
The Scot has taken the reins at the Premier League's bottom club on a temporary basis after the Frenchman's departure earlier this week.
Villa go into tomorrow's home game with Chelsea 12 points adrift of safety and, with just 21 more available between now and the end of the campaign, a realistic Black admits his first priority must be to improve the performance of a team which has lost the last six fixtures.
"I would love us to have 21 more points by the end of the season, that would be sensational," he said. "But I don't think we are at that stage at the moment.
"First and foremost we have to get a performance out of the team. I have to get a performance which will get the supporters back on side.
"Maybe we don't win the game, maybe we do. First of all it is the performance which I will be focusing on."
Black, who was recruited by Garde as first-team coach back in January, revealed he has not put his name forward to be the club's new permanent boss.
David Moyes and Nigel Pearson are currently the front-runners though Villa's new football board, headed by David Bernstein, are prepared to take their time to ensure they get the decision right.
Hull City boss Steve Bruce, another man in the frame, yesterday said he was "flattered" to be linked with the job but was "not expecting a call".
Black confirmed he had been given no firm indication of when the club will be appointing a new boss.
He said: "I'm not in the equation. They are going through the process soon.
"I'm employed by the club and privileged in some regards and honoured that they've asked me to take it forward.
"Time scale, I'm not too sure, David Bernstein has said to me I will take it until new manager comes in. That could be three weeks or seven week,s I don't know.
"The club will do their due diligence of appointing a new manager."
Adama Traore and Jack Grealish are both back in contention for Villa after recovering from respective foot and ankle injuries which have kept them out since January.
"Both of them have trained," said Black. "The only thing is they have not played any games as yet which is a little bit of a concern to me."
Club captain Gabriel Agbonlahor will not feature after being left out of the squad by Black after the club launched an internal investigation into the striker's conduct.
