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Aston Villa’s under-performers have been told to throw off the shackles when they return to action against Chelsea on Saturday.

The coaching team want fast-paced attacking football from the 18th-placed side when they visit Stamford Bridge this weekend and will drill them long and hard at Bodymoor Heath this week.

Sources say training has been sharp and intense in recent days and boss Tim Sherwood has made sure that every valued first-team member has got some competitive minutes under his belt.

Forgotten man Charles N’Zogbia played 45 minutes in a behind-closed-doors friendly while Jores Okore and Gary Gardner also featured as they continued their recovery from injury.

Tiago Ilori lined up in defence, Adama Traore impressed out wide and promising youngster Andre Green is also said to have turned Sherwood’s head since returning to full fitness.

Alterations to the starting XI are expected this weekend but there’s won’t be wholesale changes.

Villa have been told to play more on the front foot as Sherwood turns his back on a conservative approach that has been taken in recent games, albeit to no avail.

In defeats to Stoke City, Liverpool and Albion, the claret and blues have looked slow and laboured. Boring, even.

The fact that they’ve lost every game by just a single goal is no consolation to Sherwood who wants his side to be expansive and attacking.

This week, the first-team have received orders to express themselves in a forward-thinking way.

When Villa were at their best last term they were playing without fear.

The midfield players were accomplished Premier League performers and young Jack Grealish fitted in with ease due his composure with the ball at his feet.

(Image: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

The main difference this year is that there is no Christian Benteke to stick away the chances, not that Leandro Bacuna has been creating much anyway.

Out of the star players from the back end of last season, Bacuna has disappointed the most.

Jordan Amavi has performed worse in defence because he has given away goals, but Bacuna set his standards so high last term that we expected more this time around.

In this most crucial of weeks, the coaching team are thought to be pleased with the players’ efforts to take on board the manager’s thoughts.

(Image: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

But Sherwood even admitted recently that the club have got ‘some of the best trainers in the world’ and that they need to reproduce it for real when they cross the white line.

With a gap of four points already forming down the bottom of the table, time is of the essence.

The bookies have Sherwood as the second favourite to lose his job next. Only Steve McClaren at Newcastle appears to be in a worse position.

Villa’s odds of relegation have also tumbled again but there was a reason why they were among the favourites at the start of the season, too.