Mile Jedinak admits experience could be key as Aston Villa brace for final promotion charge

The 33-year-old Australian midfielder is one of several seasoned campaigners in the Villa Park dressing room and claims to be relishing the prospect of a dramatic run-in

With ten games remaining, Villa remain right in the hunt for a top two finish, having fired warning of their intent with Saturday’s 4-1 drubbing of long-time leaders Wolves.

It was a victory which owed much to the big game know-how of old heads like Jedinak, Robert Snodgrass and skipper John Terry.

With second-placed Cardiff still to visit Villa Park next month, Jedinak believes such knowledge could well come into play again.

“I can’t speak for anyone else but I know I look forward to the big games. It’s why you play,” he said.

“You want the pressure and trying to achieve something with a club is always something that gives you a great buzz.

“The big games bring out the best in big players and it was nice to get that result and that performance from everybody on Saturday.

“We (the experienced players) are there to settle everyone down and provide experience and encouragement for the boys. I thought they did really well on Saturday.”

In order to ensure Cardiff remains a big game, Jedinak knows Villa must take care of business in those fixtures where they are strong favourites to win.

Tonight’s home game with QPR is the perfect example. The R’s sit 16th in the table, well out of play-off contention but far enough clear of the bottom three to not be in any serious danger of the drop.

Yet in the Championship such fixtures are rarely straightforward and within half-an-hour of Saturday’s final whistle boss Steve Bruce could be found warning his team to maintain focus.

A run of ten wins from 12 has confirmed Villa’s status as one of the division’s strongest teams but their rivals, most notably Cardiff and Fulham, are also in superb form.

Jedinak said: “We can only concentrate on ourselves. We know that teams around us keep picking up points and that’s the way it’s going to be from now until the end.

“As long as we keep focusing on ourselves game by game, performance by performance, we will see where it gets us but hopefully they won’t be able to keep up with us.

“You can’t look at the table too much. It is about picking points up as efficiently as we have been.”