Killer instinct needed for Petrov

Captain Stiliyan Petrov has insisted Villa must now develop a killer instinct if they are to become Champions League material.

Despite needing an injury-time own goal from Phil Jagielka to rescue a draw against Everton on Wednesday, the claret and blues spurned a host of opportunities to win the game.

It was a familiar story for the claret and blues who, along with Stoke, have drawn more Premier League games than anyone else this season with 13 – with eight of them coming in their last 13 matches.

Petrov concedes Villa must start being more ruthless, starting at rock-bottom Portsmouth on Sunday.

He said: "It seems like we don't lose games, but we don't have that final bit to win the games which frustrates us all. We work really hard in training, we've had our chances but it has not been happening the last couple of weeks.

"It is particularly frustrating we can't see it through, because of the amount of chances we have.

"We are trying to score goals but sometimes it has not gone our way. Wednesday was the same."

Petrov also warns Villa will have to buck up their ideas in defence after Tim Cahill's double meant they have conceded 12 times in their last four games.

He said: "The last couple of weeks it has not been the best. Our defensive record has been great, but sometimes we go through spells like that and these were soft goals to concede."

The midfielder has urged the club's American owner Randy Lerner to finance another summer spending spree at B6, after claiming new faces will be needed if the club are to continue to move forward and challenge for honours.

He said: "It is always good to strengthen the team, so we hope we are going to see new faces coming in to improve and to make us better.

"We've got a lot of quality, but you see every single team tries to strengthen and get better.

"I hope the team will keep improving, because we have got more potential."