Jol came close to achieving that aim when manager of Tottenham, only for north London rivals Arsenal to pip them on the final day of the season in 2006.

The Dutchman finished fifth in the Barclays Premier League on two occasions with Spurs before losing his job but he believes that Villa have the ability to go one better.

He is an admirer of the likes of Ashley Young, Gabriel Agbonlahor and James Milner, although ironically none of them have made the trip to Hamburg for tomorrow's UEFA Cup clash.

Jol said: "Villa are a great side and we were interested at Tottenham in signing Ashley Young. He was a bit too expensive in the end at £9million.

"But he has gone up a level since then, Agbonlahor is one of the quickest players in the Premier League while Milner is also an excellent player.

"They have got the talent, as we had a couple of years ago at Spurs, and the future is for them.

"You need a bit of luck as well but Arsenal are not doing as well and Villa can get into that top four.

"Arsenal are not so good now and are no longer automatically a top-four side."

Jol also hinted that whether he stays at Hamburg for the long term may depend on whether he is able to sign a couple of quality players.

He said: "I want to go all the way here. One or two good players will make my team good and I will stay here for a couple of years.

"But if not, I will think about moving. They have not got a lot of resources here so I have to develop young players and I did that at Spurs.

"Hamburg is a big club and maybe there are only four or five in England who are bigger. I am fine where I am now but who knows (for the future)?"

Jol insisted that he wants his side to end their group programme with a flourish by overcoming Villa, although Villa counterpart Martin O'Neill has also omitted Gareth Barry and captain Martin Laursen from his squad.

Jol said: "We want to win and we want to win the group. There is not so much pressure now because we have already qualified for the later stages.

"But we want to give our fans a good finale to the season, in this competition and when the Bundesliga re-starts."