ALEX McLeish has called on his players to show “controlled aggression” as Villa’s bad boys walk a disciplinary tightrope going into their daunting December schedule.

Villa are in the bottom third of the Fair Play table with star player Gabby Agbonlahor and captain Stiliyan Petrov both a booking away from one-match bans after totting up four yellow cards.

In 13 Premier League matches, Villa have accumulated 29 bookings and one sending-off, although Chris Herd’s red card was subsequently rescinded.

Defenders Alan Hutton, Richard Dunne and James Collins and midfielder Fabian Delph must also watch their step after each picking up their third caution on Sunday.

Delph’s name was taken less than three minutes into the scoreless stalemate at Swansea with Hutton needlessly following him into the referee’s notebook.

Stephen Warnock, Emile Heskey and Charles N’Zogbia have been booked twice, with Shay Given, Barry Bannan and Herd each getting one yellow card.

After this weekend’s Villa Park visit of champions Manchester United, the claret and blues also face Liverpool and Arsenal at home and Stoke, Bolton and Chelsea away.

And, with a compact squad, McLeish has stressed the importance of his senior players keeping their discipline without taking the necessary aggression from their game.

“I was a wee bit disappointed with the bookings that we got,” said McLeish. “We were a wee bit rash at times. We needed to keep our heads. We were too rash.

“There’s nothing wrong with adhering to the team talk from me, which was asking for real aggression – but I did call for controlled aggression.

“There’s a difference. I didn’t want them to be reckless. I told them to be careful.

“I said ‘Let’s not get early cards because you put yourself under pressure for the rest of the game’.

“It’s about reading the game a wee bit and not getting drawn into heavy tackles.