Davies realistic over Villa's season, saying the club are a 'work in progress'

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Villa began the season in impressive style with a 4-2 home win over Manchester City, courtesy of a Gabriel Agbonlahor hat-trick, but were then beaten 3-2 by newcomers Stoke on Saturday.

They will look to bounce back against Liverpool at Villa Park on Sunday, after Thursday's second leg of their UEFA Cup clash with Hafnarfjordur, which they approach with a 4-1 lead.

Combative: Davies (left) tackles Man City's Elano, and the defender feels Villa are far from the finished article

Davies said: 'Just a week ago everything looked rosy after Gabby's hat-trick. But that's what football can do to you. You can never think you've cracked it.

'It was always going to be hard going to a place like Stoke at this stage of the season but we should have been stronger and we're really disappointed.

'Now we have to put that behind us now because we're going into a big, big week. We've still got new players in the team that are trying to gel.

'We still have work to do all across the pitch but that probably goes for most teams at this stage of the season. We're still a work in progress.

'Obviously we've got another big game on Thursday in the UEFA Cup and hopefully we can get a few goals like last time to regain a bit of confidence.

'Then it's the big one against Liverpool on Sunday and that's the sort of game we've all got to look forward to.

'First of all, we have to finish the job in the UEFA Cup and we won't be going into that match thinking we've already booked a place in the first round. We have to be professional.'