Ron Vlaar has claimed that injuries should not be used as an excuse for Aston Villa's poor form in the Premier League.

After making a promising start to the new season, Paul Lambert's side have lost their last six games, but Vlaar insists that the fit players must take full responsibility for the recent run of disappointing performances.

"We showed what we are capable of in the opening four games and it's time to step up our performances and reproduce the form which brought us 10 points out of a possible 12," the Dutch defender is quoted as saying by the Birmingham Mail.

"There's nothing to be gained by talking about our misfortunes. The essential thing now is to regain some self-belief and start picking up points."

Fabian Delph, Philippe Senderos and Alan Hutton, who all played key roles in Villa's impressive form earlier in the campaign, have been missing in recent weeks due to injury.