Clarets back home after first away win

There has been a different atmosphere around town in the last week or so. Burnley fans were lifted by that first win of the season against Hull and jubilant when we added to that with the win at Stoke last week.

It's lifted us one place in the table to 19th so we are still very much in the relegation places but at least we are right in there again now rather than being a few points behind.

That doesn't make tomorrow's game any easier. Sean Dyche said before the season started that we would go into every game as underdogs this season and I see no reason why that should change despite Aston Villa not being too far ahead of us in the table.

They are an established Premier League side; they've not been out of the top flight on English football since 1988 and the 1987/88 season was the only one below the top level since 1975 when they were promoted with Manchester United and Norwich.

Danny Ings is playing with a smile on his face

But they will come up against a Burnley side that is competing at this level and believes it is getting better the further we go into the season. Danny Ings, goal hero last week, said ahead of this game: "There's always been belief throughout the team because we don't listen to outside noises. We know there are going to be people who doubt us.

"As a group, we just make sure that we get confidence in one another and that's what we've been doing. Obviously though, two wins can lift anyone and the lads believe in themselves even more now. It took us a little while, but it wasn't like we were playing badly."

Ings added: "I think my form has built up week by week since my hamstring injury. I've got better and better with every day and game. Going away with England was obviously a fantastic boost for my confidence and bringing it back to Burnley with me. The goals felt special as well.

"It was just a matter of games with me. When I play and have a smile on my face, this is when I'm at my best and the last few weeks have been like that."

There is no doubt that Ings has been very much on form in recent games and that has helped boost the Clarets' chances since he returned to the side. He's played the last two games alongside Ashley Barnes, who scored the winner against Hull, and the pair have done really well together, and I would say particularly during the first half at Stoke.

It would be a surprise if there was any change up front for Burnley tomorrow but Sean Dyche might be forced into one change with central defender Michael Duff being assessed.

He picked up the injury at Stoke and it eventually forced him off with around a quarter of an hour to go and the manager said: "Michael Duff has got a question mark and he's touch and go. We don't think it's anything major, but we'll have to decide over the next 24 hours to see if that settles down enough."

The good news is that both Scott Arfield and Nathaniel Chalobah, who were both forced to sit out the Stoke game, are back in contention, and it will be interesting to see whether Arfield comes straight back in given how well Michael Kightly played last week.

I think he might find himself on the bench and I suspect we might go with the same team as last week other than what I think will be a change in  defence with Michael Keane potentially getting his first start.

We could line up: Tom Heaton, Kieran Trippier, Michael Keane, Jason Shackell, Stephen Ward, George Boyd, Dean Marney, David Jones, Michael Kightly, Danny Ings, Ashley Barnes. Subs from: Matt Gilks, Steven Reid, Kevin Long, Ben Mee, Nathaniel Chalobah, Ross Wallace, Scott Arfield, Marvin Sordell, Lukas Jutkiewicz.

Aston Villa made a good start to the season, winning three and drawing one of their opening four games. Two of the wins came away from home, at Stoke and Liverpool and only Hull had scored a goal against them.

They were second in the league and were promising to have a good season, but things changed and they failed to score a solitary goal in their next five games, losing them all by two or three goals, and when they did finally score they still fell to defeat against Spurs at Villa Park, a game that is still having repercussions now with Christian Benteke having been sent off and serving a three match ban.

They've recovered since and drawn the last two games. The first was a goalless affair at West Ham and just four days ago they drew 1-1 against Southampton at home when Gabriel Agbonlahor gave them the lead.

They've scored six times in the league. Agbonlahor has got three of them with Andreas Weimann having scored the other three. That return means tomorrow's game is between the league's two lowest scorers, Burnley having only scored eight goals.

Villa have defensive problems because of injuries but there will also be a gap in the dug out with this morning's resignation of assistant manager Roy Keane. He apparently has gone to concentrate on his role as assistant to Martin O'Neill with the Republic of Ireland but has waited until after the international break and when there isn't another international game for four months.

Apart from Benteke, Villa will again be without defenders Phillipe Senderos, Ron Vlaar and Nathan Baker who have been ruled out by manager Lambert. He has confirmed that the back four will be the same as played in the Southampton game.

That means it is very likely they will have an unchanged team which will be: Brad Guzan, Alan Hutton, Ciaran Clark, Jores Okore, Aly Cissokho, Carlos Sanchez, Ashley Westwood, Tom Cleverley, Charles N'Zogbia, Andreas Weimann, Gabriel Agbonlahor.

Their subs on Monday were Shay Given, Matt Lowton, Leandro Bacuna, Joe Cole, Kieran Richardson, Darren Bent, and Jack Grealish so there will have to be one change there with Bent having moved to Brighton on loan this week.

Last Time They Were Here

It was November five years ago when Villa last visited Turf Moor. That was in our last Premier League season and came on 21st November, one week after we'd earned our first away point at Manchester City.

Villa were, at that time, fifth in the Premier League. Much of it had been based on winning their first four games but they came to Burnley on the back of a 5-1 win against Bolton one week earlier.

This was a Burnley performance that deserved far more than the point we won. We were ahead for most of the match but a late error cost us and left us having to settle for that solitary point.

Steven Caldwell gave us the lead

It doesn't seem five years ago but a period of reflection was observed ahead of the game for former Claret Billy Ingham and Margaret Potts, wife of ex player and manager Harry, both of them having passed away since we'd last played at home.

We were in front on nine minutes. Robbie Blake was fouled on the left wing and took the kick himself. It was absolutely perfect, teasing Brad Friedel into trying to come for it, but Steven Caldwell was there to head home.

For the rest of the first half we were on top but didn't get a second goal. It was the best football we'd played all season.

In poor conditions, Villa did offer more in the second half but they didn't really look like scoring. Martin O'Neill introduced both Stewart Downing and Emile Heskey as substitutes, the former making his Villa debut, and the latter scoring the goal four minutes from time that gave them a point.

They won a corner on the right. For whatever reason Brian Jensen opted to punch. 'BEAST' shouted the crowd but the punch was poor, it went back to James Milner who crossed for Heskey to score.

1-1 it was, but this should have been a much better result.

The teams were;

Burnley: Brian Jensen, Tyrone Mears, Clarke Carlisle, Steven Caldwell, Stephen Jordan, Graham Alexander, Andre Bikey, Chris Eagles (Kevin McDonald 69), Wade Elliott, Robbie Blake (Joey Gudjonsson 81), Steven Fletcher (David Nugent 75). Subs not used: Diego Penny, Michael Duff, Fernando Guerrero, Steven Thompson.

Aston Villa: Brad Friedel, Luke Young (Emile Heskey 80), Carlos Cuellar, Richard Dunne, Stephen Warnock, James Milner, Steve Sidwell (Stewart Downing 70), Stiliyan Petrov, Ashley Young, John Carew, Gabriel Agbonlahor. Subs not used: Brad Guzan, Nicky Shorey, Habib Beye, Fabian Delph, Nigel Reo-Coker.

Previous Games against Aston Villa

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