Mellberg Looking For Christmas Cheer

Olof Mellberg is hoping for some Christmas cheer this year after a dire tally of results last year.

The Swedish international defender told avfc.com ahead of the clash with Manchester City:

'It's important to get a good start in this period, so you can sort of get going. Because there are so many games, you really climb the table if you play well. If you look at last season, the middle part of the season was what caused our position at the end. We had a really good start and a really good finish, so this period was what cost us. We had a bad Christmas and because there are so many games in this period, a bad spell at this time of the year can be costly. In the end last season we finished in mid-table, but we could have finished much higher. So we know by experience that it's an important period.'

And on the Man City game he added, 'Saturday is a big, big game for us and an opportunity to improve the home record. We want to turn the recent home results around. We're playing against a side in the top-four, but maybe they haven't got one of the best away records in the league. They've been really strong at home, but this should be an opportunity for us to play against a good side and get that little bit of confidence back at Villa Park.'

Good positive talk, lets hope that is echoed on the pitch with a rousing victory backed by a sold out (hopefully) Villa Park!

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