Martin O’Neill insists he hasn’t written off Villa finishing fifth – but has already prepared for the Intertoto Cup.

Villa need to beat West Ham and need Everton to lose at home to Newcastle to grab the only UEFA Cup place.

Should Villa miss out, they still need to better Blackburn’s result to claim the only Intertoto spot.

Winning one two-legged tie on either July 19 or 20 and July 26 or 27 against opposition from Northern Ireland, Finland or Denmark guarantees entry to the UEFA Cup anyway. “I don’t really think too much about fifth because if we finish in the top six, we’ll get into the Intertoto,” said O’Neill. “We’re going into this game on Sunday still with a possibility of finishing fifth – or not making the Intertoto.

“So we have lots to play for and that’s really the focus.”

O’Neill revealed he had already planned for the relatively minor disruption during pre-season. “The Intertoto is not as severe in terms of games played,” he said.

“It’s still tough to get the required amount of match fitness because you’re going from a leisurely pre-season into the Premier League opener, which is really the way you want to do it.”

“And your normal pre-season changes because in the middle of that, you have a competitive game against opposition who will have played a number of games.

“That will be the only aspect different to pre-season. That’s why we did it and why it’s worth it.

“I’m not sure whether we’d have deserved anything last year, but this season we’ve been in the top six or seven the whole time.

“Finishing fifth takes all that out of the equation and if we do, it will be great.

“With the points we’ve got and the way it’s worked out in previous seasons, we’d have already got into Europe. It wasn’t to be.”