N'Zogbia counting on survival instinct

N'Zogbia helped Wigan to stay up two years ago and was also part of the Villa squad which escaped the drop by only two points last season.

He played a major role in Villa's 2-1 win over West Ham on Sunday, winning the penalty converted by Christian Benteke and scoring the second goal himself via a deadly free-kick.

The Frenchman has been in fine form since returning to the side after a six week lay-off with a knee injury and his contribution against the Hammers helped move Villa out of the bottom three.

N'Zogbia said: "I've been through that (relegation battles) many times and hope to be successful again.

"I won't say it's the same as at Wigan. We've put together a couple of good games lately where we deserved to win and we've ended up with three points against West Ham.

"For me at the moment, I don't really look at the table. I just want to play games and help Villa win the most games we can by the end of the season.

"I just know we have to keep working together, keep believing in our football and our players.

"The secret is you have to stick together and never let people down. Now we have to believe in ourselves and be confident for the next games coming up.

"I think we have a strong mentality and knowing we can score goals is good for us. Now we have to stay focused and and be confident of what we can do when we play again."

Villa now have a fortnight's break but their next two matches will provide demanding challenges, away to Arsenal and at home to champions Manchester City.

But N'Zogbia is confident Paul Lambert's squad will approach those games in the right attitude.

"We have the mentality that we are going to win more games now," he said.

"They are big games but on Saturday, Southampton beat Manchester City. We just have to stay focused on what we can do and, any big team we play against, we just have to fight.

"If we play good, we are confident. We scored three goals in the last away game at Everton and now have scored two at home.

"Now all we have to do is keep the clean sheet and we will be okay.

"We just have to believe in ourselves and the fans will believe in us and that is the best we can do."

N'Zogbia is content to be back playing after his lengthy lay-off and admits he enjoys the physical part of the game.

He said: "I'm okay now. I had an injury for six weeks and trained hard to make sure I came back strong and fit.

"I'm enjoying it. I always enjoy playing football.

"I don't know if it is the real Charles N'Zogbia. I just try my best and try to stay in the team and play the best I can and try and help the team.

"I got a kick at the end on the calf and it was really sore but I enjoy the physical battle

"Sometimes I kick and I get kicked. That's football. This one really hurts but it's okay. I'm happy to get stuck in."

N'Zogbia is backing striker Andreas Weimann to put his glaring second-minute miss against the Hammers behind him.

The Austrian, who has scored nine goals this season, shot wide from six yards out with the goal at his mercy and held his head in his hands.

N'Zogbia said: "Andi he is a top player. Maybe he thought it was too easy to score and that happens.

"But I know next game if something like that happens, he will score right away. I've got no worry about him.

"He is a really hard working player and just wants to score. I've got no worry about him. I just know he is going to score in the next couple of games or so."