Villa players have to learn lessons, says O'Neill
Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill has urged his players to learn from Sunday's thrashing at Liverpool, which was a huge setback for their top four ambitions.
It was a reality check that Villa are not yet good enough to battle it out with the big boys, and they are now three points behind Arsenal in the scrap for the fourth Champions League spot.
O'Neill said: "My players have to learn from this. It is something that the youngsters in my side have to experience.
"We do not have enough strength in depth, certainly not a big enough squad. They big boys have been down this road before, they have the squads and they know how to handle a run-in.
"We have to play at a consistent level. We cannot just do it one game in four, it has to be all the time."
O'Neill conceded his side were over-powered, saying: "We were well beaten by an exceptional Liverpool side.
"But we did contribute to our own downfall. At 1-0 down we gave away an unbelievably bad goal, it was a shocking mistake. Liverpool have had two remarkable results before this game, beating Real Madrid and Manchester United, and they certainly did not need any help from us to achieve what they wanted.
"We played poorly. We gave away some lousy goals and we have to get back on track. We were doing fine four or five weeks ago but we were well beaten by a better side. But we are a better side than we showed in this game."
