O'Neill Reiterates Aston Villa's Top Four Ambitions

Had Aston Villa held onto their 2-1 lead over reigning Premier League champions Manchester United, the race for this years crown could have been far more tightly contested, and Martin O'Neill's men would have kept the pace with fourth-place Arsenal.

Ten minutes can cruelly change a game, though, and Villa instead left Manchester with zero points after a stunning comeback capped with a superb curling effort from United's teenage prodigy Federico Macheda.

O'Neill is not too deterred by the capitulation though, and still believes Villa can qualify for next season's Champions League.

"It isn’t over yet," he told The Express & Star. 

"It was a great game, we’re beaten and that’s another defeat to us, but we’re not finished. We’ve got Everton next week. It’s a massive game for both teams and we think we’re capable of winning again.

"We’ll take great heart from the performance and that, more than anything else, might sustain us. Six points at this stage is a big, big gap, I accept that, but we’re capable of winning. The one ingredient we need is just that wee slice of luck.

"Everybody needs it, even the great Sir Alex (Ferguson) needs it, he doesn’t need the help of linesmen and referees every single week."