Martin O’Neill sacrificed a possible UEFA Cup run to allow his charges to concentrate on pushing on in the Premier League, searching ultimately for a Champions League spot. But after a run of less than ideal results has seen Aston Villa slip out of the top four and defender Curtis Davies admits that failure to quality will be hard to swallow.

 

The West Midlands team have managed to claim a mere 2 points from a possible 21 and with Arsenal holding a seven point lead and an extra game, O’Neill’s gamble is looking ever closer to being a losing one. Davies is still hopeful that the Gunners can be caught especially with their continued Champions League progression maintaining their distractions from the domestic competition. However, he is realistic about the chances of Arsene Wenger’s team slipping up and knows the blow that will be felt if a top four place finally slips out of reach. Only five wins from the last five games will give Villa any chance of breaking the stranglehold on the top places by the ‘big four’ but they are also reliant on results elsewhere going their way. What the fall-out from O’Neill’s decision will be if it doesn’t pay off is another matter.