Aston Villa Football Club News

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

• Ground:Villa Park
• Capacity:42,584

Gabby: Season taking its toll

27 Mar 2009 - 08:17:23

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Gabriel Agbonlahor has admitted Aston Villa's lengthy season may be catching up on them as they struggle to keep their Champions League hopes alive.

The Midlands club have slipped out of the top four in recent weeks and are currently three points behind Arsenal in the race for the final Champions League qualifying spot.

Agbonlahor has made 42 appearances this season as Villa started their campaign back in July in the Intertoto Cup and the England striker has suggested that the sheer number of games is starting to take its toll.

"It has been a long season," he told the Birmingham Mail.

"Starting right back in July, playing in countries in the heat, I'm happy with the number of games I have played, because it means I have been injury-free and getting a long run.

"It can get mentally tiring but we've got the right people at the training ground to make sure we get the right amount of time off to recover."

But despite their current sticky spell, Agbonlahor still believes Villa can edge out Arsenal and claim the all-important fourth place.

"Arsenal have got a lot of players coming back and with the players they have it's going to be really tough," he admitted.

"But we've done really well this season and we've still got a chance of making the top four."