Aston Villa manager Tim Sherwood has warned his players that they must ‘man up’ as they prepare for a relegation six-pointer with Queens Park Rangers on Tuesday night, The Sun reports.
Villa are currently just one place above the relegation zone, while QPR occupy 19th place, but they could leapfrog the Villans with a victory. However, Villa could pull themselves five points clear of the drop if they come out on top.
“You look through QPR’s side and they’ve got a lot of players with a lot of experience,” he said.
“We’ve got a few men in there — but we’ve got a lot of pretty much icing on the cake players.
“And I’m trying to get that mentality into them about digging out results.
“It’s not what we’re cut out to do.”
Sherwood faces his old friend Chris Ramsey on the sidelines, and though both men have promised to put sentimentality aside, the former Spurs manager has talked up the significance of the game.
Speaking in his regular pre-match press conference, he said that while there are a few men in his dressing room, the majority of his stars are inching on the cake players.
But he has intimated that they all know exactly thew kind of situation they are in.
“This is huge for the players and they have to be able to take it.
“This is the biggest game that a lot of these players have ever played for this football club.
“It’s not always the right idea to shield players from the pressure.
“If they’ve got anything about them — which I know they have — they know this is a pressure environment.
“They know the severity of the situation they’re in.”
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