Aston Villa v Charlton Athletic

CHARLTON manager Alan Curbishley has acknowledged how important the coming week is as he tries to halt the club’s poor form.

Charlton travel to Aston Villa on Saturday aiming to end a run of three straight defeats, followed by a Carling Cup fourth round clash with Blackburn on Wednesday.

Looking ahead to the trip to Villa Park, Curbishley is hoping to pick up at least a point, to lift them from their season’s lowest position of 10th.

The Charlton boss said: "I have got to make sure I get things right. We lost at home to Bolton – perhaps we didn’t deserve it – we deserved to get beaten at Blackburn and with Manchester United coming up we knew it could be three (straight defeats).

"And now we go away from home and it could be four. I think the trick for us at this club is that we’ve always managed to arrest a little run and we’ve got to get to Villa and arrest it."

Charlton’s last match away from The Valley saw them drop their first away points of the season with a heavy 4-1 defeat at Blackburn.

Curbishley admitted: "The way we played at Blackburn was a cause for concern. I do believe that with Villa this weekend, then Blackburn in the Cup, then Manchester City coming here it’s a big week for us with those three games."

* FOR ALL THE LATEST NEWS FROM THE VALLEY SEE THIS WEEK'S BEXLEY EXTRA.