Soccer-Villa's Garde forced to deny dressing room split

March 4 (Reuters) - Aston Villa manager Remi Garde has denied there was a split among his players in the dressing room before Saturday's Premier League clash with title-chasing Manchester City. The Daily Telegraph reported on Thursday the relegation-bound squad was split into two factions with many of the longer-serving players openly questioning Garde's reluctance to criticise the squad in the aftermath of defeats. The paper said that the other faction - mostly consisting of Villa's French recruits during the close season, such as Jordan Ayew, Idrissa Gana and Jordan Veretout - felt they were being targeted for all the club's problems this season. "I am surprised that this kind of stuff goes out, not because it goes out but because I strongly believe it's not the case," Garde told reporters on Friday. "I can tell you it was exactly the opposite from what you are seeing. When you are bottom of the league you don't enjoy it but I have been told there is no problem." Garde had earlier called for unity in the club after fans staged a walk-out in protest against owner Randy Lerner during Tuesday's loss to Everton. Seven-times English champions Villa, who are glued to the foot of the table, have won only three of 28 league games and are eight points adrift of safety with 10 matches remaining. (Reporting by Shravanth Vijayakumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Andrew Heavens)