Allback Aims To Power Survival Bid

Marcus Allback aims to fire Villa to Premiership safety on Saturday, after admitting: ˇ§My confidence is sky-high.ˇ¨

The Swedish international ace grabbed his third goal in as many outings at Everton on Saturday, as Villa lost to an injury-time strike from Wayne Rooney.

And, though West Hamˇ¦s win at Manchester City yesterday means Villa are not yet safe, Allback is relishing the prospect of a fifth successive start when Sunderland are the visitors.

He reflected: "It's a tough end of the season but I'm not complaining. I'm suddenly playing. Playing with confidence makes life easier. It means when the ball come towards you, you don't think too much. You instinctively know what to do and you want the ball all of the time.

"If you miss a chance it doesn't matter, you just think of the next one. That's what you want to feel all the time as a footballer. When you haven't got confidence you try to hide from the ball."

Allback, who is away on international duty with Sweden against Croatia this week, continued: "We have two games left and we are still not clear of relegation. It's hard to look at things with a positive angle at the moment. It's always very tough to lose with the last kick.

"We are now faced with very important games against Sunderland and Leeds and we need three points to make sure we are safe.

"We have to stay positive and look at our second half performance at Everton and take it from there. None of us are thinking about anything else than concentrating on securing our safety."