Alex McLeish has said his Aston Villa players must display 'passion and commitment' if they are going to defeat Manchester City.
The Villa boss is preparing his squad for a tough encounter against the Premier League leaders, who rediscovered their winning touch with a 3-0 home victory against Fulham at the Etihad Stadium last Saturday.
And, with Villa going into the match on the back of a 2-1 defeat at Newcastle, McLeish is now looking for his side to put one over on Roberto Mancini's men to finally give the home supporters something to smile about after a run of disappointing results of late.
He told the club's website: "We have yet to take a point let alone beat any of the top six on our own patch this season so it is up to the players to go out there and change that statistic.
"It would be great to beat Manchester City, who are title contenders and a much-improved team since Roberto Mancini took over.
"They will be expected to win wherever they go so we will need to show the passion and commitment we showed in the game against Arsenal.
"There's a long spell after Manchester City until the next home game so we need to do absolutely everything in our power to win it and send the fans home happy."