Aston Villa captain Micah Richards has accepted that his team are in danger of getting relegated from the Premier League if they do not turn their season around.
After Villa's opening-day win over Bournemouth, the team have picked up just one draw and suffered eight defeats, which resulted in the sacking of manager Tim Sherwood.
Kevin MacDonald is now in temporary charge, with widespread reports claiming that former Lyon boss Remi Garde is the firm favourite to take over.
"I can't never say we'll get relegated because that would be naive because if you look at our points tally at the moment it says we are going down," Sky Sports News quotes Richards as saying. "So you've got to be realistic."
"If people think that Aston Villa can never get relegated then they need to think again because I'm sure Newcastle thought that a couple of years ago, a massive club and they had to do it the hard way. We don't want that so we have to get this situation sorted now."
Villa's next game is against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane on Monday night.
Danielle Joynson
