Stewart Downing warns Aston Villa: We face a massive job

Dec 8 2010 by Mathew Kendrick, Birmingham Mail

STEWART Downing admits Villa have got “a massive job on our hands” to restore themselves to the higher reaches of the Premier League.

A worrying points haul of ten from a possible 33 has left Gerard Houllier’s strugglers just two points above the relegation zone in 16th position.

The claret and blues face West Brom at Villa Park on Saturday in the unusual position of being below their local rivals in the table.

With Christmas clashes against Tottenham and away to Manchester City and Chelsea on the horizon, Downing is braced for a challenging month.

“We’ve got a massive job on our hands now,” said Downing. “We’ve got a home game on Saturday and we’ve got to put it right starting then.

“We’re a top team, we’ve got top players. Obviously, we’re in this position for a reason but with the players we have we shouldn’t be anywhere near it and we have to go out and put that right.”

Downing is no stranger to relegation after suffering the drop with Middlesbrough the season before last. But he does not recognise the same tell tale signs at Villa and believes it is too soon to discuss a survival battle.

“It’s definitely too early,” he said. “It’s a totally different team to the one I was in at Middlesbrough.

“We were basically a bunch of kids, a very, very young team there.

“We’ve got a lot of players coming back from injury which is a big plus.