Aston Villa defender Richard Dunne has called on teammates to show more bottle.
Dunne, 32, knows there will be no room for cowards in the Villa dressing room if they are to go into 2012 in a healthy position.
He said: "It is time that we had a bit more belief in ourselves.
"We are waiting to work our way into games and having a bit too much respect for our opponents. We have got the top teams in a row before Christmas and it is a hard programme, with a lot of games.
"Against Manchester United we did not get close to them and we paid the price.
"The manager wants us to have more belief in ourselves.
"He wants us to have more confidence and we have got to start doing that from the start of games. When Liverpool and Arsenal come to Villa Park we have got to believe we can challenge them."