LONDON, United Kingdom (CMC) – Jamaica’s Premier League star Leon Bailey has urged his Aston Villa teammates to show their quality, as they begin their bid to end a long drought in the FA Cup, with a visit to Middlesbrough on Saturday.

Villa have been one of the in-form teams in the Premier League, and are currently second on 42 points, three adrift of leaders Liverpool.

But without any major success in the FA Cup in recent times, Bailey said it was important for the club to improve their fortunes, beginning with the third-round weekend outing on Teesside.

“This [the FA Cup] is very important for the club and us as players because we haven’t advanced to the next round in quite some time,” the 26-year-old said.

“We really want to give it a go and all our thoughts are on the weekend against Middlesbrough.

“We want to play our style of football and hopefully win the game.”

“Cup games are always difficult, it doesn’t matter who we play. It’s important for us to maintain our level and show our quality.”

Bailey has been one of the standouts for Villa this season under manager Unai Emery, scoring nine goals while creating five assists and 15 chances.

His form has been one of the reasons behind Villa’s red-hot form, which the winger now hopes they can transfer into the premier Cup competition.

“We’re looking forward to the game; it’s an important game for us,” he said.

“It’s the first game of the year and hopefully we can get the win that we need to move on to the next round.

“We’re only focusing on winning the game.”

Villa have won the FA Cup seven times but are without a triumph in the modern era, their last success coming 67 years ago.

The West Midlands club have also not reached the fourth round in seven years.