Birmingham Mail: A SIXTH place finish, which would represent a 10-place movement upwards in two seasons - would be a "terrific" achievement for Villa, according to Martin O'Neill. Seventh-placed Villa now trail Portsmouth by four points following last night's win for Harry Redknapp's side at West Ham, which was watched from the stands by the Villa boss ahead of Villa's final-day trip to Upton Park. Villa finished 16th in David O'Leary's last season and 11th in O'Neill's first. Their hopes at the beginning of this season were to contest a European place which has been achieved to date with the club not out of the top eight since the beginning of November. Pompey have not entered the InterToto Cup with Villa's competition coming from Blackburn, who are a point in arrears, and a fading Manchester City, who are three points behind. "If we finish sixth, regardless of what happens to Portsmouth against Cardiff in the FA Cup final, we would get into the InterToto Cup," O'Neill said. "If someone had said that to me before the season, I would have thought that was really terrific."

Birmingham Mail: MARTIN O'Neill has praised both his players and the Villa supporters for refusing to throw in the towel after the club's disappointing recent run. Villa banished the blues in spectacular fashion at the weekend against Bolton after taking just a point from their previous four matches. And O'Neill admitted today nerves were very definitely frayed heading into last Saturday's game. "When you lose a few games, confidence is down," he said. "I wouldn't know any training ground or dressing room not affected by results. "If you win matches, you're up - if you lose a few, you'll certainly be down. I don't think you can disguise that."

Birmingham Mail: MARTIN O'Neill today refused to give up on fifth place but conceded his Villa side will have to win all their remaining games to clinch automatic UEFA Cup qualification. Everton's narrow 1-0 victory over this weekend's opponents Derby County kept the gap at eight points with just five games remaining. And Portsmouth's 1-0 win at West Ham last night gave them a four-point cushion over Villa to go clear in sixth place. Villa still have to travel to Goodison Park at the end of the month but by then they could be playing for seventh place at best with Portsmouth having faced Newcastle and Manchester City. The Toffees have a superior goal difference to Villa but face a demanding fixture list with clashes against Chelsea and Arsenal sandwiched between games against Blues and Newcastle on the final day. "For us to try to overhaul Everton will be a real tall order. We just have to win all the games," said O'Neill. "We're back in contention, but Saturday becomes a massive game. "I'm not giving fifth place up. But for us to finish fifth, we will have to win all of our five games, including at Everton, who have some tough fixtures, as we have. "To give ourselves a chance, we have to go to Derby and perform as well as we did against Bolton."

Express and Star: Martin O'Neill today spelled out the reality of Villa's Euro challenge when he claimed they must win all five remaining games to overhaul Everton and claim the only UEFA Cup spot. Villa go into Saturday's clash at relegated Derby trailing the Toffees by eight points with 15 to play for - including a trip to Goodison on April 27. Boss O'Neill said: "I'm not giving fifth place up. But for us to finish fifth, we'll have to win all of our five games - including Everton. "We can't afford to slip up in any of the remaining games. We'd need to have a bit of luck here and there too. For us to try to overhaul Everton, it will be a real tall order. We just have to win all the games."

Sporting Life: Nigel Reo-Coker is willing to be a jack of all trades to help Aston Villa's late push for a European spot. Reo-Coker has been frustrated at not being able to settle into one position following his £8million move from West Ham last summer. The former England Under-21 skipper has played at right-back and in different roles in the middle of the park as injuries and suspensions have taken their toll on the smallest squad in the Barclays Premier League. Reo-Coker said: "I am doing a job for the team. Whether I am at right-back, a holding midfielder or in a more roaming midfield role, I will do whatever is asked of me. "It can be frustrating as I cannot always get consistency into my game. I have played a lot positions. "It is slightly frustrating but I am happy to make sacrifices for the good of the team. I always enjoy playing and making the fans happy. "It is a learning curve - a good learning curve but the way I see it we are looking at an exceptional situation and we want to finish as high up the league as possible. "We want to try and secure European football next season."