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Mellberg ready for xmas test
Mellberg ready for xmas test
Olof Mellberg has said that Aston Villa are ready for the festive test that is ahead, insisting that Villa are more than capable of coping on Saturday against Man City.
He told the Aston Villa's official website: "Saturday is a big, big game for us and an opportunity to improve the home record. We want to turn the recent home results around.
"We're playing against a side in the top-four, but maybe they haven't got one of the best away records in the league.
"They've been really strong at home, but this should be an opportunity for us to play against a good side and get that little bit of confidence back at Villa Park."
He added: "I don't mind this busy period. If you're fit and feel physically good, it's OK. It's sort of like playing in a championship, you play every third or fourth day.
"It's not similar to big tournaments in any other way, it's just that the games come one after another. You don't really train in between games, it's all about recovery and then straight into it again
"If you're fit and you feel in good form, I think it's OK. It's when you start to get injuries within the squad that all the games can bother you.
"It's important to get a good start in this period, so you can sort of get going. Because there are so many games, you really climb the table if you play well.
"If you look at last season, the middle part of the season was what caused our position at the end. We had a really good start and a really good finish, so this period was what cost us.â
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