Stiliyan Petrov believes Aston Villa are still on course for a successful season despite a dip in form of late which has seen them eliminated from the Uefa Cup and drop crucial league points.
Villa have exceeded all expectations this term as they find themselves fourth in the Premier League table and on course to claim a UEFA Champions League place.
However, at the weekend they conceded late goals to Stoke City to surrender a two-goal advantage at Villa Park - a result which somewhat let rivals Arsenal off the hook as they drew with Fulham at the Emirates.
Sunday's draw with Stoke followed on from a midweek defeat to CSKA Moscow that ended their European campaign and drew criticism for Martin O'Neill as he fieldied an under strength side.
Petrov, though, believes O'Neill remains fully in control of the task at hand.
"The manager got criticised for our last Uefa Cup team, but he is the man doing the job and decides what to do," said Petrov.
In brighter news for Villa, left-back Wilfred Bouma successfully came through a comeback game on Monday night following seven months on the sidelines with an ankle injury.
The Dutchman played all 90 minutes of the reserve side's 4-3 victory over Chelsea.
He told Aston Villa TV: "I was delighted to last longer than the 15 minutes I played against Odense in my last game at Villa Park. It was really great to be back.
"I managed to get a full 90 minutes under my belt and I'm glad my ankle held up and I didn't get any kind of reaction. That was pleasing.
"It was a good game to come back for because it was very high tempo. I have played 45 and 70 minutes in behind-closed-doors games but this was something different.
"It was a proper competitive match in front of supporters and it was great to be out there.
"What pleased me was that it felt so natural to be out there playing - even though I have been out of action for many months.
"I've had to be very, very patient because it was a nasty injury and I had to make sure I didn't rush back.
"My ankle has been a little uncomfortable at times - as you would expect - but it hasn't stopped me from training and playing. I'm just glad to be back."
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