O’Neill rues missed opportunities

Aston Villa missed out on a golden opportunity to entrench themselves at the top of the Premier League table on Saturday after stuttering to a disappointing draw with Fulham at Villa Park.

Following the match Aston Villa manager Martin O’Neill told reporters that strengthening his squad during the January transfer window would be crucial to further success in the Premier League.

“If we are to genuinely compete we will have to try and do something in January,” O’Neill told the AFP. “We could be in the last 32 of the UEFA Cup, the FA Cup and also chasing the Holy Grail in terms of the Premiership.”

O’Neill singled out a lack of penetration amongst the forwards as his side’s biggest weakness, as Villa seemed unable to cut through a tight Fulham defence.

“It was a disappointing result for us,” O’Neill continued. “We went into the game with high hopes and high on confidence and there was no lack of effort. There was an opportunity there for us to go into third place, even if only until tomorrow, but we did not gasp it.”