Alex McLeish says he is ready for the 'big fight' needed to get Aston Villa past the 40-point barrier to secure Premier League safety.
The Villa boss was left disappointed by the outcome of Sunday afternoon's Villa Park clash with Manchester City as Joleon Lescott's second half strike was enough to give Roberto Mancini's side the points required to go back to the top of the Premier League table.
McLeish felt his game-plan to restrict City's free-flowing style in order to try and nick a goal at the other end worked a treat for the majority of the encounter, but his players just lacked the element of luck to secure a result.
He told the Villa official website: "I thought the players executed the plan really well and the discipline was fantastic.
"We were never going to go gung-ho against City because we just don't have the players to do that.
"I can't fault the players on their performance or their application. It was fantastic. I think we're the unluckiest team in the league this weekend.
"City never totally dominated the game like they normally do. That was in no small part due to the organisation of the team and the will to stop things getting on target."
He added: "Unfortunately we didn't get that break in front of goal. I felt we didn't deserve to lose that.
"But people look at the result rather than the performance."
McLeish revealed that he is now going back to the drawing board to ensure that they can pick up the 12 points required to reach the magic 40-point barrier, starting with the trip to bottom side Wigan next weekend.
"You're going to get everyone having a right go," he said. "It's going to be a big fight but our aim is to get ourselves up the table."