Villa boss Martin O'Neill not looking at statistics

Jan 11 2008 By Bill Howell, Birmingham Mail

VILLA will be looking to record a third straight league win tomorrow - but Martin O'Neill is not bothering with statistics.

The FA Cup defeat to Manchester United has masked the fact that Villa have been in good form of late.

But even so, they are searching for back-to-back wins on home soil in the league for the first time in three months when they face Reading tomorrow.

Not since Everton and West Ham were defeated in September and early October have O'Neill's men tasted successive Villa Park victories in the Premier League.

O'Neill believes they can build on the recent 2-1 wins over Wigan and Tottenham and keep the pressure on at the top end of the table.

"We've been beaten twice at home recently and I know at the moment, when you've lost a couple of games, people quickly turn it into 'you haven't won in five', or whatever.

"When we beat Tottenham, we'd won two games on the bounce. It doesn't matter. If you look at our points tally over the last 10 to 12 games, were right up there in the highest echelons of the league."

O'Neill added: "It's where we are overall that counts.

"What we have to do is get out of these games as much as we possibly can and, so far, we've shown an ability to fight back and that's shown in the games."

Leicester boss Ian Holloway hopes to complete the loan signing of Isaiah Osbourne early next week.

The 20-year-old midfielder was expected at the Walkers Stadium on Tuesday but the move was put on hold after Osbourne suffered a minor injury in training.

Villa's home clash with Blackburn has been switched from Wednesday January 30 to Saturday January 26 (3pm) after both clubs were knocked out of the FA Cup.