Despite recording a first win since taking charge of Aston Villa, Remi Garde remains realistic over their chances of avoiding relegation.
The Midlands club started the campaign with a 1-0 win at top-flight new-boys Bournemouth, yet then embarked on a run of 19 matches without tasting victory. This sequence of results leaves them rock bottom of the Premier League table and has also seen Tim Sherwood replaced in the dugout by former Arsenal midfielder Garde, who took the reigns in November.
But the arrival of the Frenchman has failed to lift the club sufficiently, although they did register a first win under his leadership when a Joleon Lescott goal did for Crystal Palace on Tuesday. Despite this win, Garde remains realistic over his side’s chances of avoiding relegation, given that they remain eight points adrift of fourth-bottom Swansea City who have a game in hand.
“We have to stay very humble, it’s only three points,” he said on skysports.com. “We are far away from what we all want. Of course this victory could give us a little bit more confidence. I want to also insist on the way we played. The difference between Villa and Palace didn’t reflect the table. I want my players to be more confident and hopefully that’s what will happen.”
Villa are next in action on Saturday evening, when high-flying Leicester City are the visitors in front of the Sky Sports cameras. The hosts will be looking to exact revenge over the Foxes following their first meeting of the season back in September, when Sherwood’s team led 2-0 with less than 20 minutes on the clock before the home side scored three times to snatch victory.
