Euro exit would ‘devastate’ O’Neill

MARTIN O’NEILL has admitted he will be “devastated” if Aston Villa fail to make the group stages of the UEFA Cup tonight (kick-off 8pm) as he prepares to ring the changes for the second-leg clash with Litex Lovech at Villa Park.

Villa hold a 3-1 lead from the first leg but O’Neill knows his side were flattered by the scoreline against their Bulgarian opponents, who opened the scoring and were then handicapped by having two players red-carded.

O’Neill is likely to make several alterations from the side that overcame Sunderland 2-1 at the weekend to climb into third spot in the Barclays Premier League.