Martin O'Neill believes today's opponents West Ham will be pushing for European qualification next season.

Whatever happens at Upton Park this afternoon, the Hammers are guaranteed a mid-table finish - a vast improvement on last term's relegation struggle.

And O'Neill believes Alan Curbishley's men would have been challenging further up the Barclays Premier League had they not been beset by injury problems all season.

The Villa boss told www.avfc.co.uk: "They went for it big time last summer. They were obviously paying out an awful lot of money, though they also recouped some money as well.

"There was a lot of hope and expectation around Upton Park but they got a lot of injuries early on and that obviously blighted the whole of their campaign.

"They're going to finish in mid-table and considering last season that's a vast improvement. I'm sure they'll look to next year to improve again.

"They're certainly one of our major competitors next season along with Newcastle United, Portsmouth, Blackburn Rovers and Manchester City; you can go on forever and a day...

"I always feel those sides who have crowd potential have got the genuine potential to be contenders."

Looking at this afternoon's match O'Neill is determined to add to Villa's impressive on the road tally of 35 goals in 18 appearances - a figure only bettered by Arsenal.

But the Villa boss knows his side will have to dramatically improve on last weekend's lacklustre display at home to Wigan Athletic.

He added: "We've scored plenty away from home this season and we could do with a couple more at Upton Park. It's a big, big game for us.

"Many of the travelling fans on Sunday were at Villa Park last week and we disappointed a lot of people with a poor performance in our last home game of the season. We've got some making up to do.

"It's really hard to put my finger on what happened last weekend. I've watched it back again and it was a really lacklustre display without energy."