Aston Villa legend Steve Staunton believes Saturday's clash with Southampton is one of their biggest in history.

Villa are teetering above the relegation places and he puts their poor form this season - made worse by a 3-1 loss to League Two Bradford on Tuesday - down to fielding an inexperienced side.

Staunton, who played almost 300 games over two spells at Villa, said: "The game against Southampton, after getting stuffed 4-0 down there earlier in the season, is massive, it's crucial. This is the biggest game the club has faced for a very long time. One of the biggest they've played.

"If you look at the last three years it's been going this way for a long time. You can see the lack of experience in the squad but Paul Lambert's had to play the youngsters - there's no choice in the matter that's where the squad's at."