Martin O'Neill has called for his Villa stars to maintain their superb midweek UEFA Cup form as they head into this afternoon's tough away clash with Wigan.

The Villa boss was delighted with the 2-1 victory over Ajax and wants his claret and blue heroes to feed off the confidence they gained from that impressive result.

He told AVTV: "We have got off to a good start this season and we want to keep that going.

"Performances like the one against Ajax augur well for the future.

"The players are keen as mustard and want to stay at the level they produced on Thursday.

"I couldn't be more pleased with them. I have a lot of belief in them.

"We have a lot of very good players. When they are playing strongly and at their best, they are a match for anyone."

The Villa boss also believes the football world is no longer shocked by Wigan's continued good form in the Barclays Premier League.

He added: "Wigan are very, very strong and they are a good football side. They have caused every single team in this league plenty of problems.

"You are not surprised by them anymore.

"They were leading very late on at Anfield against Liverpool in their last game.

"They could and should have got something from that game. In fact, I heard Steve Bruce say that he thought they should have won the match.

"I just think Wigan are excellent. They beat us here at Villa Park in our final home game of the season. They played exceptionally well in a match they needed something from. Obviously when the chips are down, they can come out fighting.

"We beat them at the JJB last year which we were obviously delighted with.

"We played particularly well, especially in the second half, but they caused us all kinds of problems in the game. I expect exactly the same again.

"If you offered me the same result now, I'd take it."

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