Former Aston Villa striker Dion Dublin has said that the club's current players should apologise to the fans for their woeful start to the season.

Villa are four points adrift at the bottom of the Premier League table after failing to win since the opening day of the season, securing just two draws from 12 matches since beating Bournemouth on August 8.

Following the club's heaviest defeat of the season, the 4-0 thrashing at Everton on Saturday, Dublin has insisted that the players must publicly accept responsibility for the situation if they are to retain the support of the Villa Park faithful.

"The managers have got to take some responsibility for the results but I have got to say that the players have got to stand up and be counted," Dublin told talkSPORT.

"I would love to hear a couple of the players stand up in the media and say: 'We are to blame, we have been useless.' If I was there, or [Gareth] Southgate, [Paul] Merson, [David] Ginola, [George] Boateng, [Ian] Taylor, we would all be saying: 'Listen, we have been woeful, we apologise.'

"I have not seen that yet. I am so disappointed - more so for the fans than anybody else. They pay their money week in week out and get nothing in return."

Villa have the chance to secure a first league victory in 16 weeks when they host Watford on Saturday.