Aston Villa v Stoke: Updates, banter and goooooaaaaaaalllllllls

It's all about pride now. It is all about the eleven on the pitch showing that they want the three points and that they want it for the club. Today, we need three points and they need to get them.

It won't be easy against Stoke but like I wrote yestetrday - they will have an eye on something else and while technically they are not safe, they are not going down, mostly for the same reasons we are not going down - there are teams that will keep them up.

Team news and updates

I can not promise that I'll be putting the team news right here at 2pm today as I will be on the road at precisely that time but it will be pasted in by someone below. I'll be able to Tweet it though.

You also know by now that you can watch the match here and that there will be updates here during most of the day.

A funny old game

Before I go and get my breakfast, some irony. Usually, a player on loan can not play against the club he is under contract with. This is a fair rule and a good one. However, John Carew is apparently no longer under contract with us, so he could play against us.

It turns out that Carew had his contract cancelled with us so is no longer our player and is free to play against us. If he does play, I hope he doesn't score.

There was something else, but I've forgotten it. Now for breakfast. Back in a few hours. I have a good feeling about today.