O'Neill knows that is the only way Villa will be able to compete, both at home and abroad, and in order to avoid a repeat of what has transpired over the last few days.

The fact he opted to leave eight of his stars at home ahead of last night's return leg of their last-32 UEFA Cup tie with CSKA Moscow sparked a furore and divided Villa fans.

Although those on show, including two 19-year-olds making their full debuts in midfielders Barry Bannan and Marc Albrighton, put up a commendable display, it was not enough on the plastic pitch of the Luzhniki Stadium and in sub-zero temperatures.

Goals on the hour from Yuri Zhirkov and in the third minute of stoppage time from Vagner Love gave CSKA a deserved 2-0 win on the night, 3-1 on aggregate.

The home side, still in pre-season, have already qualified for the Champions League, and that is where O'Neill hopes to take his team.

But he knows a number of new faces will be required should Villa go on to rub shoulders with Europe's finest.

"I am now hoping, this time next year, if we get the chance again, we will be really strong," insisted O'Neill.

"We will need to be as strong as the top British teams who have been in this position before, like Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United.

"I want to have the strength of squad to cope with the fixtures that come up.

"Given another opportunity, something this football club should be able to obtain, I think the experiences we've had, from July (the Intertoto Cup) through to now, will stand this team in good stead."

At least in Albrighton and Bannan he has two promising players for the future, and they were at least one positive he could take away from his first trip to Moscow.

"We had two players making their first starts in wide positions and I thought they did exceptionally well," added O'Neill.

"We were always in the game until the last minute and we always felt we were capable of scoring a goal, and we had one or two opportunities to do so.

"We have tried our utmost and, although it was not to be, in terms of team effort and what the young players gave, I was delighted."

But the talking point will long remain his team selection, the full consequences of which will only be known come the end of the season.

"I'm disappointed we've gone out of the competition, but we've played a lot of games this year, 11 or 12 more than we did throughout the whole of last season," reflected O'Neill.

"It's not a decision that was taken lightly, and if I had thought of playing just young players then we would not have travelled here on Tuesday and stayed the three nights.

"Circumstances forced me into making my decision and, whilst I am disappointed we were beaten, I will have to see what the rest of the season brings to see if that disappointment is worsened."