Preoccupied Villa scrap pointless player awards

Aston Villa have decided to scrap their player of the season awards for the 2015/16 campaign, with the club on the cusp of relegation from the Premier League.

The Birmingham-based club, bottom of the table and 15 points adrift of safety, will be relegated on Saturday if Norwich avoid defeat against Sunderland or if they themselves lose at Manchester United.

Villa, currently without a manager, have won just three league games out of 33 this season and a club spokesman said Wednesday: "The club will not be holding its annual Player of the Year Awards at the conclusion of this season. In the current circumstances, we are sure our supporters will understand."

Villa have lost their last eight games and former manager Remi Garde left last month, with Eric Black currently in caretaker charge. Last weekend's 2-1 loss at home to Bournemouth sent Villa to the brink of dropping down into the second-tier Championship.

Villa, whose US-based owner Randy Lerner has been trying to sell the club, have been ever-present in the Premier League since its creation in 1992 and the former European champions were last relegated from the top flight in 1987. Former Manchester United boss David Moyes, Nigel Pearson, previously with Leicester, and Garry Monk, who was at Swansea, have all been linked with the managerial vacancy at Villa Park.