Aston Villa captain Ron Vlaar sees three points for the taking at Old Trafford

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The Dutch centre-back believes his side are more than capable of causing an upset against Manchester United.

While few people expect Aston Villa to pick up a positive result at Manchester United tomorrow, the returning Ron Vlaar has told the club’s official website that he believes his side are more than capable of earning all three points.

Vlaar is fit again after five weeks out with a troublesome calf problem which has plagued his 2014-15 season and could be back in the line-up on the weekend if Jores Okore fails to recover from a knock picked up in training with Denmark last week.

The experienced centre-back’s last appearance came when he was sent off after conceding a late spot-kick in the 2-1 home defeat to Stoke, forcing him to sit out the following match at Newcastle, but he is now back in contention and eager to fill a crucial role during the final run in.

Helping Villa earn their first win over United since December 2009 would go some lengths towards making up for his previous match-costing blunder but, whether he is in the line-up or not, the Dutchman is adamant that compatriot Louis van Gaal’s side are beatable.

“If I look at our squad and the qualities we have, we shouldn’t be in this position,” he said on the club’s relegation battle. “I’ve said it before – and we’re still in it. So we can speak a lot but in reality we have to show it on the pitch.

“It’s been really hard up there at Old Trafford during the last two seasons as we’ve suffered comprehensive defeats. It’s a new game though this time and I really believe we can get a result there and that’s what we all have to believe.

“We need results and we need them against any team so we go there to get a result. We can take heart from the performance and result at Sunderland.

“Before that game, we’d only scored four goals in away games and we doubled that in 45 minutes so that was a great boost for everyone. It was a massive win against a relegation rival. It was a good signal to the other teams around us as well.

“We can’t worry about Man Utd’s threat. We have to look at ourselves.”