Plenty of work for Martin O'Neill to do at Aston Villa

Nov 29 2007 By Bill Howell, Birmingham Mail

MARTIN O'Neill says Villa have a "long way to go" before they can even start to be compared to the Villa side under John Gregory that was littered with big names and last won four successive league games.

A team containing current skipper Gareth Barry together with David James, Benito Carbone, Ugo Ehiogu, Paul Merson, George Boateng and Dion Dublin recorded Villa's last four-game winning run in the Premier League almost eight years ago in April 2000.

Villa beat Derby, Sheffield Wednesday, Leeds and Tottenham in a run sandwiched by the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley against Bolton, which they won on penalties.

But O'Neill is not happy for Villa to yet be compared to Gregory's side, who were consistently on the cusp of the top six or seven.

"Villa had a really fine side at that time - players such as Southgate, Merson and Dublin were really fine players," he said after last night's 4-0 win at Blackburn which followed the wins over Derby, Blues and Middlesbrough.

"We've got a bit to go before we get to that standard. But of course we know we're a definite threat.

"We've just scored seven in two away games and before that we hit four at Tottenham when we drew, two at Birmingham and we've scored 13 goals away from home, which is brilliant."