Players must believe we can stay up – Garde

Remi Garde wants Aston Villa’s players to share his belief that the club can avoid relegation from the Premier League.

Villa will seek to end a run of five consecutive defeats when they take on fellow strugglers Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday, but Garde is wary of the threat posed by Francesco Guidolin’s embattled side.

Swansea were 2-1 winners at Villa Park when the two sides met earlier in the season, and Garde told Sky Sports: “It will be very tight, probably with a lot of tension. They [Swansea] also need points.

“We need to win games – at home or away, it doesn’t matter. We are in an urgent situation. It’s always difficult to know what will happen in the game. 

“Of course we are in a very bad period with five defeats but we have a very important game which is always difficult because even if Swansea are not in the best position they are in a far better position than us. It will be a very tough game.” 

Villa have been ever present in the Premier League since its inception in 1992, and the last time the club dropped out of English football’s top flight was in 1987.

Nine points adrift with eight games left to play, Garde is under no illusions about Villa’s chances of staying up, saying: “I am not stupid. It’s an impossible mission that we have to make possible.

“You never know in football. I still believe. I have said that since the first day. I am focused on saving the club from relegation.

“From the time when things are certain, you can say we are in that league or this league. I am focused on the next game. I am not speculating.”

He added: “Of course we do have the obligation to believe but it’s not just an obligation it is something that should be inside every player, inside myself too.”