Mark Wilde, Aston Villa fan

What’s gone wrong at Villa over the past few weeks? You were doing so well.

What’s gone right? We were doing very well but perhaps a long season has finally caught up with us. The injury to Martin Laursen has been a particularly obvious loss, though with the money we spent on Davies and Cuellar we should have had enough quality to cover his absence, and the dip in form of Agbonlahor and Young equally evident.

I would like to think however we showed real signs of improvement last Sunday, especially from the latter mentioned players, to suggest we can have a late surge a compete for fourth.

Is it fair to say that the decline started with the FA Cup exit at Goodison Park?

I was at Goodison that day and though I did not think we played well, it was far from the worst display I have witnessed, it just did not seem to click for whatever reason. But for me the pivotal moment was the decision to field a weakened team in the UEFA Cup return leg with CSKA Moscow. The momentum lost after that defeat has been clear. We recovered from the Everton set back to grab a draw with CSKA in the first leg after an excellent second half display but with a second string 11 a week later we were comfortably beaten and we don’t seem to have recovered.

Are you generally pleased with the job that Martin O’Neill is doing?

Absolutely. Even when the CSKA team selection raised a few eyebrows, I backed the decision because you trust what Martin is doing at the club. O’Neill joining the club is the greatest signing we have made in my time as a Villa fan, we were just sick of managers like David “excuses” O’Leary taking us nowhere.

You finished sixth last season, where do you think you’ll finish this time and what will be seen as a successful position?

We will finish fourth, I hope, but must realistically look at fifth. It is an improvement on last season so you have got to be happy, though to spend as heavily as we did in the summer, some may have been expecting more. If we secure fifth then the Villa fans have got to look at it is steady progression – if many of us are honest we never really thought fourth was that realistic.

What did you make of the decision to leave lots of players out in the UEFA Cup after the club had battled so hard to get into Europe?

Again, it was O’Neill’s decision and I fully backed him at the time. We worked hard to get into the UEFA Cup and then to almost dismiss it was a little strange but you can understand where the club were coming from with fourth place in our sights. Having said that if we had, or do, secure a Champions League place, are we ready? I fear not.

What are your chances of holding on to Gareth Barry and does it matter?

Firstly, Barry has been extremely loyal to this club (perhaps with the exception of last summer’s saga) so we can’t begrudge him too much if he wants to leave to play Champions League football. I would love us to keep him, for me his influence on any game, whether it be for Villa or England, is quite clear. I think we are the right club for him, I worry that if he goes to Liverpool Benitez will use him as a utility player and end up using him at left back where he will be wasted.

Which Villa player should we look out for?

I feel Ashley Young will come back and haunt Everton. He has been below par for too long but showed glimpses of his true ability at Old Trafford.

How would you assess Everton’s season so far?

Amazing, in many respects. To have so many recognised forwards out, yet still be pushing for fifth place is a great effort from all involved. Tim Cahill must be one of the best players in the league, he is so effective wherever you play him.

If you could have one Everton player for the Villa team who would you take?

Immediately Cahill stands out, but if not him then it would have to be one of your centre backs, Jagielka or Lescott.

What’s the score going to be on Sunday?

Villa to win 2-1