First Match Albion's Workrate

Marcus Allback has warned Villa they must ¡¥earn the right¡¦ to play free-flowing football against derby rivals West Brom this afternoon.

The Swedish World Cup ace started last month¡¦s goalless draw at The Hawthorns and knows just how hard Gary Megson¡¦s side work. He also knows that Villa must match that workrate.

Allback, who looks certain to start on the bench this afternoon, told www.avfc.co.uk: ¡§It¡¦s another tough game, but we¡¦ve got to start to prove that we¡¦re the best team in the Midlands.

¡§The first derby of the season wasn¡¦t a pretty sight in our perspective. It was a horrible game and we received a lot of criticism for our performance ¡V as we should.

¡§The second game against West Brom was a pretty tough and intensive game, with not so much play from either side. It was a very hard game.¡¨

He added: ¡§But today we¡¦re going to try to use the speed that we can have on the ball and take advantage of that.

¡§I think we have a squad who can play football fantastically, but it¡¦s a matter of getting there. To earn the right to play football, you have to be ready to scrap a little bit.

¡§When we played West Brom at The Hawthorns, they had a lot of heart and fight and we have to match that, before we can play the way we want to play.¡¨