Joleon Lescott: Keeping Aston Villa in Premier League would rank with title wins
Saturday 12 December 2015 12:27, UK
Joleon Lescott says keeping Aston Villa in the Premier League would rank as one the biggest achievements of his career.
A boyhood Villa fan, the defender joined the the club in the summer after failing to make the grade during a trial as a youngster.
He is a two-time Premier League winner and also lifted the FA Cup and League Cup during his time with Manchester City.
But, with Villa rooted to the foot of the table and already seven points from safety, he says keeping the club in the top flight would mean as much as any silverware.
"It's a massive challenge for me," he told Soccer Saturday. "If we do achieve the goal it would be up there with the biggest achievements in my career. Winning titles is great but this means a lot because I am closer to this club than I have been to many others.
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"A lot is made of the 40-point mark and, as much as we would like to get there, our main goal is to get to 17th. We don't care how many points we are on, as long as we are out of the bottom three at the end of the season."
Villa were last relegated from the top flight in 1986/87, just five years after lifting the European Cup.
Lescott acknowledges they have to improve if they are to avoid dropping out of the Premier League for the first time.
"The belief is there in the players but we have to be realistic," he said. "As much as we say Villa is too big as a club to go down, we are not showing that as a team. At the moment, given the position we are in, the team is not too good to go down. We need to look at ourselves and pick things up collectively.
"The desire is there but it's focusing and channelling it in the right way and I think that's what we have lacked in previous games."
Lescott captained the side for the first time in Villa's last outing against Southampton and also scored in the 1-1 draw.
"We are trying to gain confidence," said the defender. "When confidence is low it's a tough game and ours hasn't been high due to results. But we like to think we are on the right path going forward."
Villa face a tricky test this weekend as they host Arsenal on Super Sunday.
The sides met three times last season, including in the FA Cup final, with Arsenal winning by an aggregate score of 12-0.
"They will be full of confidence after that performance against Olympiakos (in the Champions League), but we have to be tough and resilient," said Lescott.
"We are trying to find consistency and balance. Not many teams go to Anfield and score two but then we conceded three. We rode our luck against Southampton but they are a tough team and any team that goes there would be happy with a point."
See the full interview with Joleon Lescott on Soccer Saturday from midday on Sky Sports News HQ.
Watch Aston Villa v Arsenal live on Sky Sports 1 HD from 12.30 on Sunday or buy a NOW TV pass for the day for £6.99.
