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Richards urges Aston Villa teammates to toughen up

Reuters

Following his summer move from Manchester City, the club he had represented since he was 14, Micah Richards was promptly handed the captain's armband at Aston Villa.

The defender certainly leads by example with his physicality and work ethic, but the Birmingham side has struggled and currently sits at the bottom of the Premier League, already five points adrift of safety after 13 games.

Richards had no qualms in speaking candidly about how he feels about the displays of his colleagues so far.

"I'm not going to sugarcoat it, we've got too many nice players and we're too easy to play against. Everybody seems to be - I wouldn't say passing the blame - but they don't want to run that extra mile and take responsibility," he told John Percy of the Telegraph.

"I'm not big on stats but I think we've run the least in the Premier League - if you're not prepared to run the extra yard for your teammate then obviously you're going to concede chances."

Richards believes the summer exits of goal-scorer Christian Benteke and previous skipper Fabian Delph should be an incentive for others to show that they can fill the void. The 13-time England international does concede that it has been difficult for some new recruits to acclimatise themselves to the Premier League.

"It's not about if they're not good enough, they need time to adapt and we haven't got that now. The new manager (Remi Garde) has come in and hopefully he can get the best out of the French players, because there were certain things (previous manager) Tim (Sherwood) was trying to get across that they didn't understand because of the language barrier."

Like with all good captains, Richards says his teammates can lean on him for experience and advice, and he should be called upon as soon as Saturday when Premier League newcomer Watford visits Villa Park.

"People think because I was at City that I've only won leagues and cups, but I was there when we were struggling. They don't understand that I've been through this before when I was younger, so I know what it takes to get out of it. It's just whether the other players understand what we're in, do you know what I mean?"

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