Olof Mellberg is still dreaming of being a 30-something winner with Villa - even though the club's money-men have tightened the purse strings for now. Mellberg, 27, signed a new four-deal contract with Villa at the end of last season. Nine months on, he is skipper of a team with no chance of collecting any silverware this season and needing a stunning run of wins to qualify for Europe via the Premiership. As well as Mellberg, Villa also signed up Juan Pablo Angel and Gareth Barry on long-term deals. But they are struggling to offer Lee Hendrie anything more than a years extension on his current deal while Thomas Hitzlsperger has still to agree a new contract for next season. Add to that a long-term injury list that includes Darius Vassell, Gavin McCann and Martin Laursen, and Villas lot has not been a happy one this season. Even so, while Mellberg accepts that his own personal circumstances could always change, the Sweden defender has his sights set on establishing Villa as a top-six side over the next three years. He will be 30 when his contract ends and he insists that Villa are not that far away from mixing it with the elite clubs - despite Doug Ellis and David OLearys claims that they are off the pace when it comes to competing for new players. I signed my contract with a view to winning things, but you can never get any guarantees about what sort of players are going to come into the club, said Mellberg. My goal is to take the next step up with this club. I would feel it would be a great achievement not only for Villa but for me personally. For a while now, we have been behind those top clubs. We can finish in the top six, but its the last step we havent taken. When I agreed a new deal, thats what I was aiming for. I still am. I will be 30 at the end of it and I hope I can be part of something like that. And I dont think were too far away despite what has been said recently. You can always win the FA Cup or the League Cup, but we dont have a team to finish in the top three in the Premiership. If we can get a couple of good players in then that may be what it takes. But things can change quickly. Whats important is focusing on where we are at the moment and what we can do this season. The players have to have the ambition and drive to keep going and maybe we can still make it into Europe. Although Mellberg applauded the club for not letting their best players go last year, he knows that, to make real progress, new blood has to be introduced at some stage. That was the big thing last summer - the club were able to keep the players they wanted to keep, said Mellberg. Last season was good but there were only a few changes made. If we can keep a solid base that is good, but we have to add a couple of players whenever the market opens. Mellberg, though, has some comfort for his team and supporters who may feel the season is going nowhere for Villa. The Villa skipper points out that they have more points than this time last season and are HIGHER in the table than they were 12 months ago. The difference is that last year Villa gradually recovered from a dreadful start to finish sixth. This time they have slipped out of the top six following an encouraging first half to the season and have had to stop themselves going into freefall. Were doing better than we were this time last season so we know there is a chance we can get into the top six, said Mellberg, whose pre-season aim was to take Villa into Europe. But we have been struggling with injuries. It affects everything and allows the other clubs around us to take advantage. The good thing to come out of the injury situation is that people like Steve Davis and Mathieu Berson have come in and done well. We would have to win most games now to get into Europe, but that has to be our aim. We have to look upwards. The danger is that we slide down the table, but we know we must not feel too comfortable about where we are. Lastseason,wewere boostedbyabig win over Chelsea in the Carling Cup. But we cannot win anything this season so its important not to let things slip. We had hard games after the Birmingham defeat this season. Our schedule was different last season. Mellberg insists he can match his own personal demands in a career where he has played solidly for Villa as well as being involved in Euro 2004 and the 2002 World Cup with Sweden. And he is satisfied that young defender Liam Ridgewell has risen to the challenge of partnering him at the back. Ridgewell has recovered from a bad injury suffered during the pre-season tour of Sweden but now looks assured and scored his first senior goal against Norwich last week. Liams fitted in well and hes not somebody I have to worry about, said Mellberg. He does his job well, leaving me to get on with mine, and hes getting goals now as well. We started together at Chelsea and havent looked back. | 
