Villa boss Martin O’Neill has sent his own Christmas message to supporters by declaring – ‘I hope we’ve given you some festive cheer.’

The Villa manager has thanked the claret and blue faithful for their continued backing over the year and reserved special praise for the “fantastic” travelling support which spurred them on to wins over Portsmouth, Manchester United and Sunderland.

“The travelling fans have just been fantastic,” he said. “The crowd that went up to Old Trafford was magnificent and to then find the money to travel to Sunderland on a wretched evening three days later was brilliant.

“There was another at Portsmouth. We have had to endure some pretty poor weather conditions but at least the performances by the side have given them something to cheer about.”

And, with Villa in fourth and rivals Birmingham in seventh, defender Stephen Warnock reckons it will be a happy Christmas for football fans in the Second City.

“It’s great to have two teams up there and I’m sure it’s great for the fans,” said Warnock. “They’re probably enjoying the banter bet-ween each other at work. It was always the same when I was at Liverpool.

“There was a spell where Everton were right up there and fighting for the Champions League spots and it was great around the city.”