After two months Aston Villa players have a midweek break and Gareth Barry believes the rest will spur the team on for the double-header with Arsenal and Manchester United. The England midfielder said: "Hopefully we will have reaped the benefits of a little rest this week.
"We knew this season was going to be different for us, playing the majority of times in midweek and then the weekend and a few of the lads had mentioned their legs are tired.
"But this is where we want to be. We want to be playing all these games. It means you are doing well if you are competing and playing every three days or so.
"The two league defeats was a disappointing thing. They were games we felt we could have got stuff out of and we came away with no points.
"But we are a team of battlers and we will look forward to the next two games with Arsenal and Manchester United. We know they are tough but it is always a good challenge to see how far we've come."