Aston Villa manager Remi Garde announced that he was hoping to 'cause a surprise' against Everton this weekend, a team that has impressed him in recent weeks.

The Frenchman knows that he and his team face a tough challenge on Merseyside come Saturday afternoon, if they're to add to their low total of six points from 12 games.

Sitting bottom of the table, they can't move out of the relegation zone even if they collect all three points, whilst Everton are standing steady in 9th after some impressive recent results.

Toffees come into the game with confidence

Their last home game was a 6-2 triumph over Villa's fellow relegation strugglers Sunderland, and Garde admitted in his pre-match press conference that they will take advantage of this, due to being "full of confidence".

Quizzed about the Toffees' playing style, Garde quipped that Roberto Martinez's team "like to pass, keep the ball and play with width on the pitch", possibly referring to Gerard Deulofeu, who has been in sparkling form on the right-wing.

Adding that they've got many "quality players", Garde did say that his side are going to "try and give them some problems", and "cause a surprise".

Garde rubbishes accusations that Villa are destined for failure

Some, namely ex-assistant manager Ray Wilkins, have suggested that Villa's players don't care enough, or have it in them to avoid relegation.

Garde rubbished this, saying that he's been shown no evidence of players that "don't care about the situation or believe in themselves", and that although he knows it will be "very, very difficult", he is confident of turning things around before it's too late. 

"When you build a house, you don't start with the roof, you start with the base. And that's what I'm trying to do," said Garde on the job at hand.

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