Saturday 5 March 2016 19:12, UK
Remi Garde said his Aston Villa players have "fragile" mentalities following their 4-0 loss to Manchester City on Saturday.
Manchester City had slipped off the pace in the title race but goals from Yaya Toure, Raheem Sterling and a double from Sergio Aguero were enough to see off Villa, who had just two shots on goal and are now nine points from safety.
Garde's side had kept City at bay for 45 minutes but conceded two goals in two minutes just after half-time to throw away their chances of a positive result.
It was a similar story in their last away game at Stoke, where they conceded two goals soon after the restart having battled their way to a 0-0 at half-time.
"We had a good defensive performance for the first 45 minutes - that was the plan as City are a very good team and conceding a goal in that time would be very difficult for us," Garde said.
"We wanted to go very far in that game without conceding one. The first 45 minutes we did well showing a lot of concentration and dedication to the game. The second half was completely different.
"It's something I can't explain. The mentality of the players has been damaged a lot from the beginning of the season and we are getting too fragile, too quickly in the game.
"It's difficult to be 100 per cent sure but when you see the difference in the first half and the second half there is a deep mental problem."
Only two teams in Premier League history have had fewer than Villa's 16 points after 29 games and Garde's men are now without a win in 14 league away games.
Barring a complete upturn in results, Aston Villa look destined for relegation to the Championship and when asked whether he thinks his players still believe they can survive, Garde said: "I hope so.
"It's a question you have to ask the players. If you saw the first 45 minutes nobody can say my players aren't committed and believing, but the team are getting more and more fragile because of the scenario of the season."
