Villa skipper Stiliyan Petrov has urged the team not to rest on their laurels and arm their top-four charge with further signings in January.

Boss Martin O’Neill has already admitted he is unlikely to bring in reinforcements when the transfer window reopens, unless injuries or suspensions hit his squad in the next few weeks.

Having seen their Champions League challenge crumble in the final third of last season, Petrov believes the string of summer signings made by O’Neill has made Villa’s squad better equipped to last the pace this time.

But the skipper still hopes fresh faces will arrive to strengthen them further still.

He said: “The squad is definitely strong, but Martin O’Neill always tries to improve the team and the chairman Randy Lerner has been very supportive to the manager.

“I think if he adds something, it will be good for the team. It is a strong squad but the manager knows things change very quickly in football – injuries, suspensions.

“We will see. It will be an interesting because, not just us, other teams will try to strengthen as well so I hope we can get even stronger.”

Next up are key games with top-four rivals Arsenal and Liverpool over the Christmas period – and Petrov is confident Villa can last the pace this time after learning harsh lessons last year.

He said: “It is just about us. Last year we were looking at how many points we were away from Arsenal and away from Liverpool, and we finished sixth.

“We are playing for us and at the end of the season we will see what we have achieved, how many points we have got and if it is going to be enough to finish in the top four.

“All the boys know what we experienced last season. We went on a very good run and then we had a really bad dip at the end.