Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill has urged his players not to dwell on the past and to focus instead on Sunday's derby with Birmingham.Villa remain in contention for European qualification after thumping victories over Bolton and Derby in their last two games.

Before returning to form they had gone five games without a win, a run that saw them lose to Sunderland and draw with Middlesbrough at home.

O'Neill is unsure whether those results will prove costly but does not believe there is any point in looking back at this stage of the season.

"I know people will say if only we'd picked up points against Middlesbrough and Sunderland, but we really can't be doing that," O'Neill told Villa's official website.

"You can't look back in this game. We've just got to get on with it. We've put ourselves in contention and we can't slip up at all."

O'Neill is confident that Villa can see off their Midlands rivals this weekend if they continue playing as they have done in recent weeks.

While O'Neill has been pleased with the ten goals that Villa have scored in their last two games, he has been just as happy with the defence.

"The clean sheets are really important for us because up until the Bolton game we couldn't keep one to save our lives," said the manager.

"Goals obviously have been pretty free-flowing of late - on the back of a couple of matches where we didn't score a goal, so everything is gelling nicely.

"Obviously the way we're playing is a decent enough omen going into a big game.

"I accept the fact this is a derby and they would always say 'form goes out the window'.

"But it's good for us. We're going in with plenty of confidence."

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