Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill believes they've earned the right to finish in fourth place ahead of their clash with Manchester City.

O'Neill believes Villa deserve to be contention for the Champions League after the success they have experienced on all fronts this season.

They reached the Carling Cup final and the semi-finals of the FA Cup and victory in their last two games with City and Blackburn would put them in contention to break into the top four.

He said: "Could this be Villa's best chance of the top four? I've never looked at it from that viewpoint. I've just felt that it has been hard all year round.

"But, the way it's fallen, the way we've hung in there, I actually think our performances this season, and what we've done in the cups, means we deserve this two-game crack at it (the Champions League).

"To give ourselves a chance we need to put maximum points on the board and that won't be easy, particularly under this sort of pressure. 'You would expect Tottenham to beat Bolton at White Hart Lane and we could win our two games and it would still not be in our hands. But it's worth battling for."