Stephen Warnock accepts Aston Villa's players must stand up and be counted during the final three games of the season to avoid the drop.
It's not good enough, admits Villa goalscorer
Stephen Warnock accepts Aston Villa's players must stand up and be counted during the final three games of the season to avoid the drop.
Warnock netted the opener for Villa at home to Bolton on Wednesday night before the visitors turned the game around to drag Alex McLeish's side into the relegation mire.
They are now just three points from safety and, with fans calling for McLeish's head, Warnock believes it requires strong characters if Villa are to survive this season with their Premier League status intact.
He said: "There's only myself at Blackburn, James Collins at West Ham and Emile Heskey at Wigan who have been in this situation (battling against relegation).
"It's not a nice situation to be in. We need fighters now.
"The youngsters are learning the hard way but it's not easy for the senior lads as well.
"With Blackburn a couple of years ago, we had to really fight for it.
"It's a real test of character and we have to stand up and be counted now."
Regroup
Villa's final two games are at home to Tottenham and away to Norwich but before that they must travel to local rivals West Brom on Saturday and Warnock cannot wait to put the Bolton result behind them.
"I wish the game was tomorrow and we've got to regroup," said the 30-year-old left-sided player.
"We've got to take the positives out of the Bolton game, learn from the mistakes and hope that will be enough to get us the win on Saturday.
"We need to go to West Brom with the belief that we can win the game.
"It's a six-pointer again against Albion. It's a huge game. It's a must-win game and we've got to go there and win - it's as simple as that."
Opportunities
Villa dominated Wednesday's game and had numerous opportunities before two goals in two minutes from Martin Petrov and David Ngog soured the mood.
The England international added: "We were not clinical enough and I think that's been the problem of late.
"I'm not having a go at the strikers, because it's a team game, but we need to be more clinical in front of goal.
"We created chance after chance in the first half and in the second half. There looked like there was only one team going to win it.
"To concede the equaliser so quickly was very disappointing and we were made to pay. It's not good enough - simple as that.
"It's a lesson and hopefully the lads will learn from it."
