Source: Telegraph
Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill insists his side can still finish in the Premier League top four
With the help of a couple of rounds of golf, the Villa manager has insisted ahead of his side's match with Manchester United on Sunday that his team are still in contention to finish in the top four. [LNB]Villa have seen their aspirations for Champions League qualification dealt a serious blow by a poor run of eight games without a win, which culminated in the merciless defeat at Anfield. Yet O'Neill is keen to remind observers that it wasn't so long ago that Manchester United were streets ahead at the top of the table, and manager Arsene Wenger was under fire for Arsenal's lacklustre form. [LNB] Related ArticlesPremier League team newsChelsea target YoungVilla and Everton eye EtuhuCan Alan Shearer save Newcastle United?Gary Neville ready to return to action for Manchester UnitedFabio Capello aiming to regain high groundNow United are only a point clear of Liverpool, albeit with a game in hand, and Arsenal have leapfrogged Villa to occupy fourth place. [LNB]"We all sat round here, thinking that Manchester United had the championship all wrapped," O'Neill said. "Liverpool were written off having lost at Middlesbrough. That was the championship over for them. Seven weeks ago Arsene Wenger had lost it. A couple of weeks later it changes. This isn't something new. It happens every year."[LNB]Bearing that in mind, O'Neill insists that Villa, who are just three points behind Arsenal, still have the time and players capable to turn their disappointing run around. [LNB]He said: "We will have to stop conceding daft goals, goals that are soul destroying. And we will have to create more. But we're capable. Regardless of this game, we will be battling to the end. I think we still have a strong chance of breaking into the top four."[LNB]Sunday's match with United will be a crucial staging post, but after losses to Liverpool and Fulham in their last two games, the League leaders could be even more dangerous than usual. [LNB]"It will have been a long time since they were in a situation where they might lose three on the trot," O'Neill said. "That would be a very unusual situation in the last decade." [LNB]
