Villa captain Gareth Barry insists finishing fifth this season would not amount to failure – despite them being in fourth place only last month.

Martin O’Neill’s fifth-placed team travel to Bolton, having seen their Champions League dreams diminish by the week after claiming just three points from their last eight Premier League games.

The team kicked off March sitting pretty in fourth and were just minutes away from moving eight points clear of Arsenal, but the roles have been dramatically reversed with the Gunners now in the final qualifying berth boasting an eight-point advantage.

Barry, whose future at Villa will be in major doubt should they finish outside the top four, believes fans must look at the ‘bigger picture’ following last term’s sixth-placed finish.

He said: “Would fifth be progress? I think it definitely would be. No matter what you say, if you get to fifth from sixth then that is an improvement.

“Given we were minutes away from going eight points clear at one stage it’s so easy to look at it now and be disappointed.

“But for the fans it’s important to look at the bigger picture. We will keep battling for fourth but if we do end up fifth the club has had a good season again.”