Aston Villa Football Club News

• Nickname:The Villains
• Founded:1874
• Manager:Alex McLeish

• Ground:Villa Park
• Capacity:42,584

Davies wants European place

01 May 2008 - 10:05:43

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Injured Aston Villa defender Curtis Davies has backed his team-mates to topple Everton from fifth place and secure UEFA Cup qualification.

Davies, who will not play again this season after rupturing his Achilles tendon two months ago, believes Villa can close the three-point gap to the Toffees and sneak ahead of them in the race for Europe.

The Midlands club have the easier of the two run-ins on paper as they take on Wigan Athletic and West Ham, while Everton must face Arsenal and Newcastle United.

Last weekend the two UEFA Cup hopefuls fought out a 2-2 draw at Goodison Park in which Villa twice came back from behind to secure a point.

"We're confident that we can clinch fifth," he told the club's official website.

"We know that Everton have still got to go to Arsenal, but the main thing is we've got to win our games - if we don't we haven't got a chance.

"We've got to keep pushing on and, with the results we've had before the Everton game and the character we showed after going behind twice, it was a big result for us.

"It will be interesting for the rest of the season. Both teams won't give it up easily but I still think we can do it."

Meanwhile, Davies believes he will be back in contention for first-team action by the end of September.