Martin O'Neill has warned his players the season will be seen as a disappointment if Villa fail to qualify for Europe.

But O'Neill is confident Villa can return to winning ways after a return of just two points from the last nine.

With eight games to go, Villa go into Saturday's home clash with Sunderland trailing fifth-placed Everton by seven points.

O'Neill is looking for home comforts to get the bid back on track. He said: "Despite the fact we didn't play well last Wednesday, I really look forward to the games at Villa Park.

"In the second half against Newcastle we created the sort of atmosphere that we've had regularly this season, so there's nothing to stop us.

"It was doubly disappointing because we lost and Portsmouth went above us by a point. We've got to catch up again and my own belief is we will. It's really disappointing because we have ability in the side and we're capable of doing it."

The Villa boss added: "This game's about statistics at the end of it all - we played brilliantly against Arsenal but you can't live on that.

"We got one point from that game and seriously, when you tot them up at the end of the season, getting one point from Arsenal was every bit as disappointing as dropping points against Middlesbrough.

"But it's what we do over a season - I don't want things to be clouded. We've got points to play for and honestly, I'm telling you we'll go for it.

"Will it still be a good season if we miss out? Absolutely not. We've now got to show real resilience, and I know this is an over-used word in the game, but we've got to show real character. This is where we've really got to show it."