Don’t blame Jordan for missing Sunderland trip – Garde

Jermain Defoe’s second-half double at the Stadium of Light helped to secure a 3-1 win, the Black Cats’ first since November 28, and put them seven points clear of bottom-of-the-table Villa.

The former England striker then wrapped up the points and rubbed salt into Villa’s wounds when he made it 3-1 at the death, converting Ola Toivonen’s pass for his second of the afternoon and sixth of the season in the Premier League.

Villa are without a win in 18 matches (D5 L13); extending their longest ever winless run in their league history.

“Watford are a very good side but I felt we were capable of winning that game and our performance could have won it after conceding so early but we didn’t take our chances”.

With just eight points to their name this term, the Midlands side are 11 from safety with the joint-worst goal difference in the league (-19, same as their hosts).

Sunderland took a 30th-minute lead against the run of play when Patrick van Aanholt’s shot was deflected past goalkeeper Brad Guzan by Micah Richards.

But Sunderland boss Sam Allardyce ultimately decided against taking a chance on the Scotland worldwide, with the Black Cats squad already depleted by injuries.

“We must keep our nerve”, said Allardyce.

“We’ve got to become proactive”, says Allardyce who, shocked by certain players’ haziness about basic defensive positioning, has resorted to some “boringly” repetitious training sessions. “I’m not here to lose – I’m here to try to make the team win”.

The Stadium of Light is one of the few happy hunting grounds for Aston Villa: in the last five games there the Villans have beaten the home side three times, drawn once and lost once.

‘But like my players I’m very disappointed.

Considering this, it came as a surprise when Villa forced an equaliser just past the hour mark, levelling the score in style.

“But for that we will probably need to bring in one, two or three players”.

“We didn’t, we kept plugging away and kept it nice and tight at the back and we finally got what we wanted. But we need some quality”.