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Aston Villa club director General Charles Krulak has backed the club to avoid relegation and stated that to do so they must summon the spirit of the US Marines.

Villa sit on eight points and on the back of a dismal run that has left very few with any real belief that they can avoid the Championship.

However, the former Gulf War commander, board member and ally of Randy Lerner doesn't see things like that.

Speaking to The Sun, Krulak, 73, said:“I faced way bigger 'losing battles' than this — and won them. You can’t tell me this is impossible. Three wins in a row and we are back in the mix. That’s what Randy believes and what everyone at the Villa believes. The day you don’t believe is the day you quit.

“Let’s just look at Desert Storm. It was 4am and we were standing next to minefields separating Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. There were trenches filled with gas, massive artillery ready to rain down on us and the threat of chemical attack. My next in command looked at me and said, ‘How are we gonna get through this?’

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“I said, ‘We’re gonna do it, we’re gonna go through this like a knife through butter’."

Krulak goes on in the interview to say that the club must never give up and that Randy Lerner shares these beliefs because his father was in the US Marines.

He also states that Randy Lerner is 100% behind beating relegation and supporting his manager.