O'Neill realistic on Euro spot February 25 2008
Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill has warned there are still no guarantees that the club's most promising season in years will end with European qualification.
Villa have their eyes on a UEFA Champions League spot following a 2-1 victory at Reading that was far more comprehensive than the scoreline suggests.
It left the midlands outfit still in sixth but took them level on 47 points with fourth-placed Liverpool and Everton in fifth, with the Toffees taking on another club in European contention, Manchester City, on Monday night.
Twelve years have passed since Villa finished as high as fourth, but should they end up missing out on even the UEFA Cup, O'Neill insisted it would still be a season to cherish.
He said: "We are in contention and there are four or five sides who are separated by virtually nothing.
"My own view on the possibility of a Champions League spot is that we might not even qualify for Europe, but that wouldn't stop it being a decent season for us.
"We have got to press on and this win should give us a big lift in terms of confidence.
"We spurned an opportunity a couple of weeks ago against Fulham even though be didn't play poorly and were in the lead, and although we conceded late on there was a resilience about our play today."
Ashley Young gave the Villans a 45th-minute lead after Gareth Barry had missed a penalty and substitute Marlon Harewood's 83rd-minute strike meant that Nicky Shorey's stoppage-time free-kick was merely a consolation for the Royals, who have now lost a club-record eight successive league games and remain third from bottom.