Aston Villa boss Paul Lambert has conceded that his side are one of the majority in the Premier League who are in a fight to stay in the division.
Villa have been in the relegation mix for the past three seasons, and are currently just five points clear of the drop zone in 13th place in the table.
Lambert has admitted that teams like his side and Sunderland, who they face at Villa Park on Sunday, are always in a battle to keep themselves in the top flight.
"History tells you in years gone by you have to earn the right to stay in the league regardless how big your name is or how big the club is," Lambert told reporters.
"Take out that top six big clubs and everybody fights like anything to stay in the league. Sunderland for some reason have been down there for the past few years but it doesn't matter how big the club is, it's earning the right to stay in it.
"They say get 40 points and see what happens. We have got 20 and last year it took us until January time to get 20, so that's an improvement."
Villa are one of just seven clubs to have never been relegated from the Premier League since the formation of the division in 1992.
Simon Sinclair
