Martin O’Neill hit back at suggestions Villa’s bubble has burst after their big week ended in disappointment – while planning a break to boost his tired players.

Saturday’s 1-0 loss to Chelsea completed a miserable seven days for the claret and blues, who were dumped out of the FA Cup by Everton last weekend and head to Russia for Thursday night’s UEFA Cup second leg facing an uphill battle, after conceding an away goal to CSKA Moscow in last Wednesday’s 1-1 draw.

It is the first time Villa have gone three games without a win since October and the defeat ended a 13-game unbeaten run in the Premier League.

But despite slipping to fourth they remain six points clear of fifth-placed Arsenal, who could only draw at home to Sunderland.

Sections of the media have raised question marks over whether O’Neill’s squad, which is the smallest in the top flight, can last the pace in the race for the Champions League but the Villa chief remained defiant.

He said: “I can’t spend my time worrying about what other people think. It’s the people in the dressing room that count. They’re disappointed, they think it’s a setback.

“I want to make sure they genuinely believe that’s what it is. It’s a setback. It’s not catastrophic, it would have been great to have won and we thought we were capable of winning.

“But people will read into it whatever they want. I’m not here to second guess what people might think. If we lose the next five games I might agree there’s a pattern developing here.”

O’Neill has hinted he may have to sacrifice Villa’s bid for UEFA Cup glory to ensure they stay on course to achieve a Champions League spot.

He said: “The irony of it all is that we spent all last year breaking our necks to get into the UEFA Cup. We started in July in the Intertoto just to get into it.

“Now we are in the final 32 and we are maybe having second or third looks at it.

“I have to try and please Villa fans and I think they would look at that and think the Premier League, which can eventually drive you into the Champions League, is the Holy Grail.

“It seems strange we are in that position. Had we been seventh, eighth, 10th in the league, it might have been a different outlook.

“Football has changed and chasing a top-four place in the Premier League, to get you into the Champions League, is everything.”

Thursday’s game in Moscow is followed by the visit of Stoke on Sunday and a league trip to Manchester City three days later but O’Neill’s team then have 10 days off, before Tottenham travel to Villa Park.

So the Ulsterman is planning a mini break to recharge his players’ batteries, in readiness for the crunch double header against Manchester United and Liverpool.

He confirmed: “I’m thinking of taking the players away for a few days somewhere.”