In our hands and most important match of the season

I didn't write a post after the League Cup final. Nobody wanted to read what I had to write directly after that match and the more I think about it, the more I believe it doesn't need to be written now. We gave it a go and as we've been told, it wasn't meant to be.

But I disagree with that. But to get me to talk about it, you'll need to find me in the pub.

Since then though, things have gone okay for us. And by okay for us, I mean the teams around us have been dropping points and we find ourselves with two games in hand and four points off 15th place.

You could even say that survival is on our hands and it starts tonight. To say anything but three points tonight would be bad for us isn't an understatement. We need three points tonight and we have to go out there as if it was a cup final. Okay, maybe not like it was a cup final, but we have to go out there tonight and show that we want to stay in this League.

And we can't wait until John McGinn is back or rest everything on him. He's a very decent player, but he's only one man. I'm sure he'll make a difference and his energy has been missed. We have to act like a team with an idea of what we're trying to achieve. And that can't be sit back and hit long.

We have to let our defenders defend and our attackers attack. That can't happen when everyone is behind the ball in the last 40 yards. Tonight is possibly the most important match of the season and if there was a team spirit or belief that we're led to believe there is, then we have to see it tonight, with a little more structure.

Match facts from the BBC

Head-to-head

  • Leicester could complete a league double over Aston Villa for the first time since the 1996-97 season.
  • Villa have won just one of their 10 Premier League away games against Leicester.

Leicester City

  • Leicester are winless in four league matches (D2, L2), failing to score in the past three.
  • The Foxes last went four consecutive top-flight matches without scoring in February 2017, as part of a six-game run under Claudio Ranieri.
  • Leicester have only taken 12 points from 12 league games since their 4-1 win at Villa on 8 December.
  • Their tally of 50 points is just two shy of their final total last season.
  • Jamie Vardy has gone 10 hours and 41 minutes without a league goal.
  • Kelechi Iheanacho has been directly involved in eight goals in his last five games against Villa in all competitions, scoring six and assisting two.
  • He could become the first Premier League player to score against the same side in four games in a single season since Romelu Lukaku against West Ham in 2014-15.
  • Kasper Schmeichel is one short of becoming the fourth Danish player to make 200 Premier League appearances.

Aston Villa

  • Villa have lost four consecutive matches in all competitions since a 2-1 League Cup victory against Leicester on 28 January.
  • No Premier League side has conceded more goals via set pieces this season than Villa's 18.
  • Only Norwich City have earned fewer points on their travels this season than Villa's eight.
  • Villa have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last 21 Premier League away matches.
  • With seven goals and six assists, Jack Grealish has been directly involved in 38% of Villa's 34 league goals this season.