Aston Villa midfielder Stiliyan Petrov is refusing to allow personal praise to distract from the season-long target of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League.
Petrov has been a key player in Villa's emergence as contenders to break the top-four monopoly of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United, and boss Martin O'Neill recently offered a lavish assessment of the Bulgaria international.
However, O'Neill's side have lost form at a key moment of the campaign as they struggle in their battle for fourth place in the Premier League - and the resulting opportunity to play in the Champions League - with Arsenal.
And the Petrov is not set to rest on his laurels as Villa - who will hope to end a nine-game winless run in all competitions when hosting European hopefuls Everton on Sunday - attempt to finish as high as possible.
"It's flattering when the manager says nice things about you but, if you take too much notice, you can forget what is needed to be successful," he said.
"We really want to achieve something for the fans. If we can get into the Champions League, that would be fantastic.
"I will be happy if we achieve what we aimed for at the start of the season - a top-four place.
"We know it will be hard for us but we want to move this club forward and it's up to us to do that over the next few games."
Petrov was axed from the Villa team by O'Neill at the end of last season after a 2006 move from Celtic, but he insists that he never lost faith in his ability.
He added: "It wasn't a good start for me at Villa. People expected more and I didn't produce which was frustrating for me and for them.
"It was up to me to change people's thinking. I came here as a good player and that was how I wanted people to regard me.
"But I never stopped believing and now I'm showing what I can really do.
"It's important for any player never to lose faith. It's up to every individual to keep his place and for a while last season I was out of the team.
"I was determined it wouldn't stay that way so I just kept working and I waited for my chance. When it came, I knew I had to start proving I could play."
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