O’Neill hits back at tired Villa flak

Martin O’Neill has hit back at his critics suggesting his Villa players are tired.

Villa have been unbeaten in their last four games, taking 10 points and scoring 17 goals to climb back into UEFA Cup contention.

Their form has seen them within three points of fifth-placed Everton with two matches left after trailing the Toffees by eight having played a game more a few weeks ago.

Previously, Villa had suffered three successive defeats without scoring and gone five games without a win. That run prompted the theory that key Villa players such as Gareth Barry, Martin Laursen and Gabriel Agbonlahor were suffering the effects of a long season.

Laursen and Agbonlahor are ever-presents in the Premier League while Barry has only missed one game and their performances dipped.

But boss O’Neill insists that’s not the case and believes his squad approach the final two games in the best possible form.

“It was only a few weeks ago we were being criticised for not resting players,” said O’Neill.

“The general view would have been we looked jaded and tired and we really hadn’t rested people.

“But we’ve come back with a bang and people are now saying it’s because we’ve played a settled team.

“People can pick out of that what they choose. It’s great to have the players available. They’re in fantastic form, they’re really heady spirited and they really want to go for it. It’s all encouraging. Whether it’s because we have a settled side, I don’t know. But in the papers, the reason we were losing games was because the players weren’t being rested.”

O’Neill insists the only real answer to the critics is to win matches.

“You can’t get it right,” he said. “I’ve always said the best thing is to try to win games and that way you get a bit of respite.”