Martin O'Neill wants Aston Villa to come out fighting

Mar 21 2008 By Bill Howell

MARTIN O'Neill will tell his players to fight fire with fire and tackle Sunderland tomorrow as if they were immersed in a relegation battle.

Sunderland are in free-fall after a run of one point and no goals from four matches which sees them precariously positioned above the bottom three.

But they are renowned as battlers, having garnered a heap of points at the death in a number of games earlier in the campaign, and O'Neill is anxious that Villa match that attitude at Villa Park.

"Sunderland realised the Premier League wasn't going to be a breeze but at the same time, they've battled and stuck in", O'Neill said.

"They're battling every single week and they're really used to it now. For us, we have to show the same qualities to battle for a European place and show the same intensity as a relegatioon battle."

Sunderland were controversially denied an injury-time winning goal against Villa back in December when Danny Collins' header was ruled out for a foul on Scott Carson.

O'Neill added: "We had a really difficult game up there although I actually thought we played well and had a lot of possession.

"Sunderland maybe felt aggrieved that they weren't given the goal but overall, we definitely deserved a point from the game for our play that day.

"I don't think anyone disputed that."

O'Neill says he is "well aware" of Sunderland's ability to score late goals earlier in the season.

"They got a late goal against Tottenham on the opening day, did the same against Birmingham the following Wednesday and there have been others such as Derby at home.

"But it's still a trait and it's still there and it still becomes a statistic."