Martin O'Neill has warned Aston Villa need to add more quality to the squad this season just to avoid going backwards after two seasons of progression.

Villa are still challenging for a UEFA Cup spot going into the final weekend of the campaign despite having the smallest squad in the Barclays Premier League.

But O'Neill is aware they cannot afford to stand still and need to invest in new blood for the 2008-2009 campaign and he said: "I want to really keep the progress going. We want to try and step forward again and we're looking to add that extra quality to the quality that we have.

"We definitely need more. That gets harder as you go along because you're trying to add to a better side.

"But we're trying to progress and we have got to do it otherwise we wouldn't just stand still, we would probably regress. There's no standing still in Premier League football because there's always someone looking over your shoulder."