Villa will be like wounded animals, warns Southampton boss

LONDON (REUTERS) - Southampton must be ready for a backlash from "wounded animals" Aston Villa when the Premier League strugglers meet at Villa Park on Saturday, manager Nigel Adkins warned.

Villa, entrenched in a miserable run of form, suffered a shock 1-3 defeat at fourth tier Bradford City in their League Cup semi-final, first-leg meeting on Tuesday.

"They'll be a wounded animal after that defeat against Bradford in a game they'd have been expected to win," Adkins told Southampton's website.

The teams are separated by one place and one point - with Villa 16th and Southampton 17th, just above the drop zone.