And it all comes to an end at the Villa

I'm looking forward to my trip to Villa Park even though there haven't been too many good memories for me at the ground that used to be referred to by fans of the 1950s and 60s as the graveyard.

It was the fourth Football League ground I visited. The Turf was the first and that was followed by a 2-1 defeat at Ewood, a 1-0 FA Cup win at Bramall Lane and then Villa for the FA Cup semi-final in 1962 which ended in a 1-1 draw against Fulham.

I've seen us win there twice. The first of them was in 1967 in what proved to be Brian Miller's last ever game for us. He suffered a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament (then known simply as a knee injury) during the first half with Burnley already 1-0 up via an own goal from home keeper Colin Withers.

Four seasons later we lost a League Cup game there at a time when they were two divisions below us but the next win came in 1972/73 when we turned in a superb performance to beat them 3-0 with goals from Keith Newton, Geoff Nulty and Billy Ingham.

Steven Reid will play his last game after announcing his retirement

Tomorrow though it's a nothing game in terms of the season. Villa are now safe and we are down. The only thing we've got to play for, other than pride, is trying to at least match the result QPR get at Leicester to try and avoid finishing bottom. I'd also love us to get something from the game to beat the points total of five years ago.

Despite the relegation, the place hasn't been too despondent. Manager and players alike have remained positive as you would expect.

I think we've been sidetracked this week to an extent by the brilliant news from Roy Hodgson that Tom Heaton would be in the England squad for their forthcoming games. I wasn't aware at the time but I was just a few feet away from Tom when Sean Dyche passed the news on to him at the Supporters Groups' Player of the Year Evening on Tuesday night.

Heaton was told quietly by the manager and was sworn to secrecy until the official release on Thursday. Quite how he managed to do that only he knows.

He's heaped praise on his manager this week. "I can't thank him enough. I absolutely love playing for him and I feel like I'm getting better under his stewardship," he said.

I bet he can't wait to pack his bags. He's cancelled a holiday in South Africa to join up with the England squad but before that there is one more game to play when he should become the first Burnley player to play every minute of a top flight season since Peter Noble in 1974/75 when he achieved it by playing from start to finish in all 42 league games.

Heaton said: "We want to finish with a high, with a win. We know they're a good side but we'll be going there to try to compete and win the game."

He won't be the only Burnley player in the spotlight. The club have confirmed that Steven Reid will play some part in the game as he brings his playing career to an end, this after Dyche heaped praise on his former Millwall team mate following the news on Tuesday that Reid was hanging up his boots.

"He's done exactly what I brought him here to do because he knew the game time would be minimal compared to previous seasons, but I wanted him to be around the group and show the true professional that he is and he has done that during the campaign."

Ross Wallace has been ill this week so it's not certain whether he will be available but, that apart, it's a full squad that we'll select from other than long term injury victims Kevin Long and Dean Marney.

We'll select from: Tom Heaton, Kieran Trippier, Michael Duff, Jason Shackell, Ben Mee, George Boyd, Scott Arfield, David Jones, Matt Taylor, Danny Ings, Ashley Barnes, Matt Gilks, Steven Reid, Michael Keane, Stephen Ward, Fredrik Ulvestad, Ross Wallace, Michael Kightly, Sam Vokes, Lukas Jutkiewicz, Marvin Sordell.

Aston Villa's season can be split into two parts, with previous manager Paul Lambert and current boss Tim Sherwood. This was a team who looked a clear relegation favourite until Lambert was sacked. They were unable to score goals and the whole place seemed to be in disarray.

It looks clear now that all wasn't well in the dressing room with Lambert, but since Sherwood has arrived then things have most definitely looked up. Without doing anything too spectacular, they've picked up 16 points from 12 games, Christian Benteke has been scoring goals for fun, they've reached the FA Cup Final and that has all ensured they have nothing to play for other than a final placing in the league and a warm up for the cup.

They can thank us partly for that. The last relegation place is between Hull and Newcastle, but had we lost at Hull two weeks ago then they, along with Sunderland and Leicester, would still be fighting for their lives tomorrow.

Who will play for Villa? Kieran Richardson and Jores Okore are both doubtful. Richardson missed last week with a calf injury whilst Okore hasn't trained all week, Sherwood suggesting it would be a big ask to expect him to play. Other than that, despite the final next week, he said there would be no resting of players as they were determined to win the game.

He had earlier said that some of his young academy players could be involved, but it is always difficult working out what is going to happen; last week Mark Hughes ruled Ryan Shawcross out of the game against us.

Villa's team last week at Southampton was: Shay Given, Leandro Bacuna, Jores Okore, Ron Vlaar, Alan Hutton, Tom Cleverley, Ashley Westwood, Fabian Delph, Charles N'Zogbia, Christian Benteke, Jack Grealish. Subs: Brad Guzan, Matt Lowton, Carlos Sanchez, Philippe Senderos, Andreas Weimann, Scott Sinclair, Gabriel Agbonlahor.

Last Time We Were There

Our last league visit to Villa Park came in our last Premier League season of 2009/10. We scored the first and last goals that day but it wasn't a good day for us as we travelled through the snow to get there for a Sunday lunch time kick off.

That first goal came in the 10th minute when David Nugent headed on a long ball forward. He played it to Jack Cork, got a return and then squared the ball for Steven Fletcher to finish from close range.

We didn't play badly in the first half and got past the half hour with our lead intact but then the self destruct button was pressed again. An Ashley Young free kick was hit straight at Brian Jensen. Instead of catching it he opted to punch and punched it straight out for a corner. From the kick, Young fired in another shot, this time going in off Jensen's arm.

Still, we got to half time at 1-1 and that was still the score eleven minutes into the second half. Then the proverbial floodgates opened. Stewart Downing put Villa 2-1 up on 56 minutes and then the same player doubled their advantage two minutes later.

It was 4-1 on 61 minutes through Emile Heskey with Gabriel Agbonlahor adding number five on 68 minutes. We'd surpassed ourselves. We'd conceded four goals in 12 minutes and this after looking the better team in the first ten minutes of the second half.

It was shocking and the only consolation was that we didn't concede again, not even when we opted to play the last twenty minutes with ten men by bringing on Frédéric Nimani for Nugent. In fact, we scored a second of our own when Martin Paterson scored his first Premier League goal.

The only player to come out of the game with much credit was Jack Cork (pictured) who looked excellent in midfield n his first Burnley start.

The teams were;

Aston Villa: Brad Friedel, Carlos Cuellar, James Collins, Richard Dunne, Stephen Warnock, Ashley Young (Steve Sidwell 82), James Milner, Stiliyan Petrov, Stewart Downing, Gabriel Agbonlahor (John Carew 72), Emile Heskey, (Nathan Delfouneso 77). Subs not used: Brad Guzan, Luke Young, Fabian Delph, Habib Beye.

Burnley: Brian Jensen, Tyrone Mears, Clarke Carlisle, Leon Cort, Danny Fox, Jack Cork, Andre Bikey, Kevin McDonald (Wade Elliott 64), David Nugent (Frédéric Nimani 70), Steven Fletcher (Martin Paterson 82), Chris Eagles. Subs not used: Nicky Weaver, Michael Duff, Robbie Blake, Steven Thompson.

Previous Games against Aston Villa

Click HERE to see all previous results against Aston Villa (no cup games shown prior to season 1986/87)