'So close': John McGinn focuses on top-four race after Olympiakos defeat | Aston Villa

John McGinn has claimed Aston Villa have been “poor” after failing to win the European conference league but the club captain is determined to ease the disappointment by taking them to the Champions League. Villa has not played in the top European competition since 1983.

Villa can seal fourth place in the first division with the home win against Liverpool on Monday, although McGinn admitted there is lingering frustration that they haven't done the job yet.

“There's been a determination for five or six weeks,” he said. “That's the frustrating thing, we could have solved it sooner. But the Premier League is extremely difficult. We have certainly had some setbacks along the way, but this group will continue to fight.”

McGinn said Villa failed to live up to expectations by exiting the Conference League in the semi-finals after a 6-2 aggregate crushing. defeat against Olympiakos. “We were the favorites to go and win the trophy and everyone appreciated it and accepted it,” said the Scottish midfielder.

“For us, the way we look at it right now is that we have not achieved satisfactory results and there is a lot to learn. We know we've made the fans proud and maybe in a couple of weeks, on reflection, we'll be proud of ourselves. But right now there is a huge tinge of disappointment.”

villa host Liverpool before a trip to Crystal Palace on the final day. Tottenham expect Villa to lose both games and need to pick up at least four points from their final games (home against Manchester City on Tuesday and away against Sheffield United on Sunday) and significantly increase their goal difference to take Villa to the top. fourth place.

“We're very close,” McGinn said. “But we just have to focus on Monday night. I think we owe a performance to the fans. “We owe ourselves a performance after the effort throughout the season, the work that comes every day. It's been a long, tough season with a lot of away (games), but certainly one to be proud of. We don't want to fall short. We know what we have to do. It's in our hands”.

Leon Bailey is a major doubt after being forced to leave Olympiakos with a knee injury. Morgan Rogers, Youri Tielemans, Nicolò Zaniolo and Àlex Moreno are also under monitoring after suffering injuries. Emi Buendía returned to training after an anterior cruciate ligament operation.