Birmingham Mail: MARTIN O'Neill believes supporters will have to be a little patient as his blueprint for a bright new future at Villa Park takes shape. The boss has found himself on the back foot in recent weeks as Villa have dropped points and slipped down the table, putting their European chances in grave doubt. But he is already planning for his first steps into what will be a busy summer of transfer activity and says the job at Villa was never going to be a quick fix. O'Neill enjoys a very close working relationship with chairman Randy Lerner, who has totally backed the Irishman's judgment throughout his 20 months at the helm and will again do so this summer. "I think the club is in really good hands," O'Neill said. "The expectation is very high and I have always said I am pleased it is high. "Now what we have to try to do is match that expectation and the best way to match that is to win. While we do not have the resources Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool have, we have to work hard to get there. "It does not happen overnight. It is not consumed by one good result or one poor result."

Birmingham Mail: MANAGER Martin O'Neill has hinted at one or two changes in personnel ahead of Aston Villa's visit of Bolton Wanderers. He says Patrik Berger, Moustapha Salifou, Isaiah Osbourne and Wayne Routledge are all in contention after playing for the reserves against Blues this week. O'Neill has been looking for a positive reaction in training this week after the 4-0 defeat at Manchester United, their third successive reverse. "I think that when you have suffered a couple of defeats, like anything else, you look to the reasons why you got beaten," O'Neill said. "Sometimes you can over-analyse, sometimes you can miss things. "Overall I think with the squad we have this minute everybody is really in contention. "On Monday night we played a reserve game - Patrik Berger, Isaiah Osbourne and Moustapha Salifou all played - and in terms of our first-team squad, so did Wayne Routledge. "Everybody is in contention. It is a pity we didn't have a reserve game last week because it would have done Salifou, Osbourne, Berger and Routledge the world of good. "All came through Monday, the attitude was terrific and now we will see what we do."

Birmingham Mail: MARTIN O'Neill today rounded on a minority of doom and gloom merchants - but insisted he was open to some flak after recent results. The Villa manager has found himself questioned in certain quarters over his inability to strengthen his squad in the January window at a time when he was also selling Gary Cahill to Bolton for £5million. O'Neill refused to pay sky-high wages for certain players, including long-term target Lassana Diarra. That led to him fielding a midfielder, Nigel Reo-Coker, at full-back against Manchester United for the first time in his career. "I am not bothered, honestly. I am in the game and therefore open to criticism," he said. "You will be criticised by things you do, you will get criticised for things you don't do. "It gets back to the old point about winning. Overall this season we have played very attractively and yet the expectation is that if you don't beat Sunderland, then you accept the criticism and the rest follows."

Express and Star: Martin O'Neill has revealed he has received messages of support from Villa fans despite their current slump - but accepts they have 'miles to go' to get the club where he wants. Villa's UEFA Cup dreams are hanging by a thread after collecting just two points from 15. But the Villa chief said: "Remarkably, there has been a lot of positive feedback - which I also take with a pinch of salt. "It's sometimes nice to hear from people who say: 'We've been really disappointed these last few weeks, but over all we're very pleased with what's happening here.'" O'Neill admits Villa have 'miles to go' to get where he wants them to be after last week's defeat at Manchester United gave him a vision of where he wants to be. "We got beaten last weekend and we've got lots to do," he said. "We were at the wrong end of a beating but I saw where we want to go. "We have miles to go, and I don't think any self-respecting Villa fan will think anything other than that."

Express and Star: Martin O'Neill today rounded on his critics and revealed he hadn't signed players in January because they were too pricy. The Villa boss is facing the first grumblings of discontent from some fans frustrated by the club's slump after boss O'Neill signed only Wayne Routledge in the transfer window. O'Neill is expected to spend big in the summer, but insisted he won't be held to ransom. "We didn't spend in January because the players I had in mind weren't available for the price," he said. "Anybody is available outside the best players in the world. But this idea you can just go and cherry pick, I'm sorry, it doesn't happen."

Sporting Life: Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill believes winger Wayne Routledge could be an asset in the closing weeks of the season. The 23-year-old has yet to make a first-team appearance for the club since arriving in January, but O'Neill has been impressed by his recent performances in the reserves. He told the club's official website: "I think Wayne is starting to slowly regain his confidence. He can deliver. He's got nice feet and a nice turn of pace. He's getting back to the player we know he can be. "It's definitely a confidence thing. Once you stop going past players, for whatever reason, and maybe someone is telling you to do something different in the game you can find yourself low on confidence. "All of that will come back once he's regularly beating players and knows he can beat players. Once he gets it in his mind that he can, he'll be fine because that wee turn of pace he has is enough to beat players."