Foreign legion up for Aston Villa game, says Jonathan Greening

Sep 17 2008 By Chris Lepkowski

JONATHAN Greening today insisted that Albion's foreign legion will be left in no doubt about the importance of this Sunday's derby against Villa.

The Baggies have one of the most cosmopolitan squads in the Premier League, boasting players from 17 different nations.

Villa, by contrast, named 12 English players in their 18-man squad for Monday night's game against Spurs.

But Albion skipper Greening believes Tony Mowbray's men will be fully aware of how vital the Hawthorns' fixture is regarding local bragging rights.

"I'm sure those lads will be aware of what's at stake," said Greening.

"They've all played in derbies in their own countries and we'll be letting them know anyway what a big fixture it is and I'm sure the gaffer will be as well.

"It's the big one for the fans and the players too.

"It's a massive game because we know what it means. They're a good side but we feel if we play well on the day then we can do it.

"We talked about it on Tuesday after they'd beaten Tottenham on Monday.

"Villa played very well and, although I think Spurs were under par, we know how difficult it will be this Sunday.

"We said among ourselves that on our day we have the belief to beat anybody so we won't be afraid and we'll be trying to show them what we can do.

"If we perform on the day we know we can get a positve result."

Villa play the second of three games in six days when they take on Litex Lovech in Bulgaria tomorrow.

They fly back to the UK straight after the game to prepare for the first West Midlands derby of the camapgin.

Greening admits that there is no guarantee that Villa's hectic schedule will hinder them, with the Baggies midfielder, quite rightly, pointing to Albion's impressive form during the final weeks of last season when they were playing two games per week as they made their final push for the Championship title.

"We noticed last year in the Champoionship that even when you play every three or four days then it's not something you notice anyway," added Greening.

"You get up for games because you don't train much and, in some ways, rest more.

"Travelling won't help them so we do need to try and peg them back and hit them early doors.

"If they are tired and jaded then we need to start well, as we did against West Ham when we should have been two or three up."