With an average of 7 English players featuring for Aston Villa each week, Martin O’Neill certainly isn’t adding to Fabio Capello’s concerns that only 38% of Premier League players are English. Villa’s young side have excelled this season and their manager’s optimism is tangible. Martin O’Neill has been speaking to Sue McCann

“There’s no reason not to be optimistic because we have kept going and now suddenly we are in with a chance (of European football) with 12 games to go. If you can now just narrow it down to a 12 game season then there’s no reason not to have the same optimism as we’ve had in the last couple of months.”

There are a number of teams vying for one of those coveted European places. Do you believe your young side have got enough composure to keep the focus that will be required right to the wire?

“The younger players are definitely getting the experience but whether we have the composure or not is shown for instance when we lost to Fulham. We took the lead with about 20 minutes to go and we lost the game. Even though we weren’t playing well in the match I wonder whether a more experienced side would have lost that lead. You know over the course of time that you might have to iron that out but it still doesn’t stop me from having optimism. We’ve got that enthusiasm, that drive and determination and I am hoping that those things might overcome that bit of experience that you might need.”

You had a good representation of Villa players in Fabio Capello’s first England squad. With another squad to be announced in couple of weeks that’s another target for your young players... to be included again would be ratification of how well they are doing....

“Yes you are absolutely right. When Capello’s first squad was announced we had 5 people involved. You must have that ambition (to be in the squad); it must be a driving force. To know that someone is keeping an eye on you and watching your progress at International level is only good news and definitely a very positive effect around the football club.”

Fabio Capello has also indicated that he will try out different players as England Captain up until the World Cup qualifiers actually start. Would you like to see him maybe give Gareth Barry even half a game in the role because he could be a Captain for somewhere in the future/the next England generation?

“Being the Captain of England is a really, really fantastic honour and eventually I’m sure that Capello will settle on someone and then have them as a permanent fixture. Everything is still very new to Capello and whilst he is trying out these things then I would say ‘well why not?’ Gareth is a driving force on the field and he could learn to be more vociferous on the pitch. He’s very much a case of a Captain by example as much as anything else. I don’t really want to draw the analogy but Martin Johnson, they reckoned when playing for the England rugby team, it wasn’t so much about what he said it was really what he did on the field that counted as much.”

You play Steve Coppell this weekend who has been named the LMA Manager of the Year for the past two years. Has Reading’s struggle in the Premier League this season been an indication that surviving or making progress in this league does require a certain level of financial investment in the team?

“Steve Coppell doesn’t need anybody else to tell him what a great job he has done there at Reading. For Reading to get promotion from the Championship and win it by a distance, for them to be in the Premier League last season and just fail to get a European place through the league was absolutely fantastic. Sunderland have gone out and spent a lot of money to try and stay up and I think there’s no doubt that investment is definitely needed in this league. Steve Coppell has done some job with the resources; especially this season,losing a big player like Steve Sidwell and still having to run around, make changes, pulling in players from here, there and everywhere. “