Richards: Villa's relegation fight is heartbreaking

Aston Villa captain Micah Richards admits the club's fight to avoid relegation is breaking his heart.

Bottom-placed Villa have not won a league game since their opening day triumph at Bournemouth, with a 2-0 loss to Norwich City on Monday extending their winless run to 18 matches.

With just eight points, only Sunderland (six points in 2005-06) and Derby County (seven points in 2007-08) have had a lower points tally than Villa at this stage of a Premier League season.

And Richards, who joined on a free transfer from Manchester City, says results have been tough to take.

"I'm not going to sugarcoat it, we weren't good enough against Norwich. I can understand why the fans are frustrated every week, we are just not doing enough," the 27-year-old told AVTV.

"I want to be brutally honest. It's heartbreaking every week because we put in the hard work in training but when you come off the pitch and it's another defeat, it's hard to take.

"People talk about not putting in any effort but I put in 100 per cent every game. At the moment it's not enough, it's a hard thing.

"The boys will always try their best. They don't want to lose or anything like that. But I think we are lacking in quality sometimes in vital moments in the game, when we're not finishing teams off.

"If we want to move up the table we're going to have to find a way of capitalising when we are on top in a game."

Villa face second-bottom side Sunderland on Saturday in a crucial game in the bid for survival.