Aston Villa v West Brom, options and something honest

If West Brom beat us on Saturday, they could move above us. Is that a worry or are we still waiting for things to happen under this manager? You know my view, so for me it is just about waiting for the inevitable and hoping for a dream to come true.

But we have to win on Saturday. Defeat would be a hard pill to swallow and there would not be many excuses he could offer up that wouldn't be ridiculed. But that isn't why we will not lose.

I know we will not lose, much like I know we will win another eight to ten games this season. There is a famous saying in baseball and it goes something like 'every team is going to win 54 games and every team is going to lose 54 games; it's the result in the other 54 that determines your season'. I don't know where I heard that, I'm thinking the West Wing, but it is where we are now.

We are not going to get relegated because there are much worse teams than us, but we are not going to win the Premier League either. We are going to finish not far from where we find ourselves today, because for the most part, we will win a third of our games and we will lose a third of our games - it is what we do with the others.

A derby match is something different

Saturday falls into that group of matches that we don't know the result for, but this manager knows how to get his team up for a local match and his style of play is good for not losing.

We wont score four or five, but chances are we wont concede more than one and if we can create enough chances for Bent or Gabby is on form again, we can score two or three. If Petrov takes another 10 shots from outside the box, he might even get one too.

So it comes down to wanting it more. It comes down to getting to the second ball before they do and it comes down to getting the ball out wide, or having someone in the middle that can see something a little bit before everyone else and can make that pass.

So, seeing as these are the ways we are going to win (not factoring in luck), expect to see Bannan in the middle, Gabby on the left, Bent up front and N'Zogbia on the right. In the middle, you'll see Petrov and don't be surprised to see Heskey (I know that is mad) too, but I think Ireland might get the nod.

Something honest about not knowing

So, this must be why football is exciting. You see, none of us can with any certainty say that we will win this game. I mean, we should be able to, but the way things are now, this game could go either way. We really don't know.

So, I'll be watching and hoping. Other than that, I'll be having a cheeky fiver on Bannan to score. I've got a feeling, as long as he starts, he is going to do enough to make sure he isn't dropped again.

Updates and everything else from early afternoon, until then, the odds.

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