O'Neill hails Villa start

Martin O'Neill says he is delighted with Villa's start to the season as they sit fourth in the table going into the Sunderland game.

Villa are on a high after picking up back-to-back away wins at Tottenham and West Brom, and O'Neill says he could not really have asked for a better start.

O'Neill's men are in the Champions League places and within touching distance of Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal, something the gaffer would have taken at the start of the season.

"If you had said to me we would have taken 10 points from the first five games then I would have taken that,'' said O'Neill.

"I never want to look too far into the fixtures really but getting 10 points on the board as early as we have done has been exceptional. Overall we are still on a high.''