Tom Heaton: Aston Villa players can't afford to feel sorry for themselves
Tom Heaton has warned Villa cannot afford to feel sorry for themselves as they look to quickly bounce back from Saturday’s nightmare against Southampton.
The 3-1 home defeat was Villa’s fourth on the spin in the Premier League and means Dean Smith’s team will spend Christmas in the bottom three.
They now host Norwich, the team sitting directly below them in the table, on Boxing Day with goalkeeper Heaton admitting an urgent response is required.
He said: “We've got no time for feeling sorry for ourselves.
“I think part of the issue is we go one behind and our heads are dropping at the moment and we can't have that.
“There are going to be tough moments. We need to make sure we're together and giving everything we've got and if the ball goes in the net, we get back on the front foot straight away.
“Saturday was a tough today at Villa Park against one of our direct rivals but it's gone now.
“We can't affect the result now – all we can affect is doing everything we possibly can to get a result in the next game against Norwich.”
Villa have now conceded seven goals in their last two home league matches after being taken apart by the Saints, who clambered out of the relegation zone at their expense.
“It's not a wake up call. I would hope everyone is wide awake to be honest,” said Heaton. “The manager said after the match that we all need to look at ourselves, and make sure we maximise everything we do to be playing at this club and in the Premier League.
“We've got to be a bit more competitive. We need to dig in, roll our sleeves up and be combative and we can build from that.
“I think we are a little bit lacking in that at the minute. We have things to work on.”
