Aston Villa must beat Reading to steer ship to safety

6Mar 2013

England - Premier League

Christian Crowther suggests Aston Villa's season has reached a point of no return, where they must win their next game or face relegation...

It was another gut-wrenching night for Aston Villa fans, who witnessed their inexperienced side put up a spirited performance against the champions only to pay the price for a calamitous defensive error from skipper Ciaran Clark.

These are worrying times for Paul Lambert, who is running out of time to steady a vessel which is in real danger of going down in the storm.

After picking up just a solitary win in their last 11 Premier League outings, Villa remain in the drop zone with a meagre 24 points from 28 games.

This dismal sequence of results includes seven defeats and unsurprisingly places the midlanders among a shortlist of candidates for the trapdoor - currently rated at 1.8 to fall into the Championship.

After the game, Aston Villa's manager remained upbeat about his side's level of performance, not only against Manchester City, but also over the last few months of the season.

In reality though, the fact remains that Villa are deep in the mire and must pick up three points quickly or risk losing top-flight status for the first time in 25 years.

At times, the Villans looked accomplished enough in possession against Roberto Mancini's side, though in attack their play lacked any conviction and, when you mix this with defensive frailty, you have a toxic combination.

However, all hope of finding land is not lost for Villa. Coming up, Lambert's side have a gold-plated opportunity to lever themselves away from trouble while simultaneously inflicting damage on the two teams directly below them.

Villa have played well against some top sides and perhaps have deserved more but now their chances of survival are at a pivotal point.

If they can repeat their earlier season triumph over Reading when they visit the Madejski Stadium on Saturday and then get something against QPR, suddenly an imposing run-in which includes Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea will not feel as intimidating.

If they lose to Reading though, the outlook becomes even grimmer than it is now.