Boss Dean Smith believes Aston Villa will beat the drop on survival Sunday.
Villa go to West Ham out of the bottom three on goal difference after Tuesday’s 1-0 win over Arsenal.
He said: “I’ve been confident in this group since we came back. There’s nothing to waver my belief in them. I know after the Manchester United match (a 3-0 defeat) everyone thought we were relegated and were speaking about a Championship season.
“We have taken seven points – and it should have been nine – from the last three games and we’re above the line.
“We understand what we have to do. We have to be mindful of what’s happening at other games, as we saw in the Championship, and we’ll have some ‘What if’ scenarios in the final 15 minutes.”
Smith has remained calm throughout Villa’s struggles this season after leading them to promotion via the play-offs last year.
He said: “I think 33 years of being involved in football is enough to help you deal with pressures that are there. It certainly wouldn’t be good for my health if I was getting too up and down.
“I’ve always maintained the biggest thing a player wants to see is consistency from a manager. If I’m up and down then I can’t expect them to have good emotional control as well, so I think it’s really important I’ve trained myself to do that.”
