O'Neill has found himself coming under fire from some supporters and critics for only bringing in Wayne Routledge from Tottenham during the last transfer window to bolster a push for a European spot.

And now a run of only two points from the last five games have seen Villa's UEFA Cup hopes fade.

But O'Neill is adamant his stance not to bring people in for the sake of it was justified and he knows ultimately he will be judged on results and the overall progress of the team.

The former Celtic boss said: "It is about the overall picture in my own view and it is about the overall improvement of the football club, all those types of things.

"I am not too bothered if people overlook that, because that is what happens.

"You will be criticised for things that you do. You will get criticised for things that you don't do. It gets back to the old point about winning.

"You will get criticism and deserve criticism when you lose games that you were hoping to win.

"You will be criticised for being well beaten at Old Trafford like we were last weekend. It is a story."

O'Neill added: "People might want to criticise someone for me not spending in January.

"The point is that we didn't spend in January on players for reasons that I have given before.

"Now if someone doesn't choose to believe those reasons, it really doesn't bother me.

"The decisions that I took in January were not that difficult simply because the players that I had in mind weren't available for the price."

O'Neill insisted: "Overall this season we have played very attractively and yet the expectation is that, if you don't beat Sunderland, then you accept the criticism and the rest follows.

"Even if you are winning some games, somebody will say that you didn't win it well enough because you should have scored a fourth or a fifth goal, or whatever.

"It doesn't matter. Where I think the football club is going and where I want it to go would be exactly the same place as every single Aston Villa fan."