Aston Villa: Turmoil of last season is our inspiration says boss Martin O'Neill

Dec 11 2009 by Mathew Kendrick, Birmingham Mail

“It was a great effort and there is no question that we were desperately unlucky.

“I think maybe Manchester United scoring so late on maybe gave them the extra impetus to keep going and eventually that might have been the defining moment in the season because they won so late and Liverpool were breathing down their necks at the time.

“It was a big moment for them and incredibly frustrating for us because we were in the midst of that run which was yielding very few points for us.

“It was a real body blow to lose so very late on in the game. It was really hard to take because for every reason under the sun we had performed so excellently.

“Again it was very frustrating, but we played brilliantly on the day and got nothing from it.

“About three days later people forget about it. It just goes down a statistic.”

Villa, who have lost just four of their 20 league and cup games this season, travel to Old Trafford fifth in the table and well poised for another crack at the top four.

But O’Neill accepts that there recent run of form will face the ultimate test against a United side who have won six and drawn one of their home league fixtures.

“We always go to Old Trafford or anywhere else and try to play as naturally as possible,” he added. “We’re doing really well and playing with confidence, which is great.

“Even in the cup against United a couple of years ago we were doing fine and then conceded a late goal. It’s gone underneath the goalkeeper for a late winner.

“Our record’s not great against them and hasn’t been for a long, long time, so we’ve got to try to do our utmost to change that.”