Milner aims to beat points tally

James Milner is confident Villa can beat last season's points tally now their wait for a win is finally over.

Monday's 1-0 victory over Hull, Villa's first in three months, took them to 58 points for the season.

They are now just two short of last term's total of 60 with three Premier League games still to play.

And, now they have returned to winning ways, Milner expects Villa to take enough points from their remaining matches against Fulham, Middlesbrough and Newcastle to surpass that return.

"We should beat that as long as we finish the season strongly," he said. "We just haven't had the rub of the green.

"Fair play to the lads because it was a tough spell. They still got on the ball and tried things. When things aren't going well sometimes it is easier to hide but no-one has ever hidden."

The claret and blues have been forced to settle for a Europa League spot after seeing their Champions League challenge collapse in recent months.

But Milner insists they have still had a season to be proud of.

"The negativity does not come from us," he said. "We have been unlucky and not had the rub of the green.

"When you start the season as well as we did expectations rise.

"Maybe if we had started really badly and were in the relegation zone and finished the last two-thirds of the season the way we started, done things the other way around, it would have been 'what a great season'. It's the way people look at things. We are still on for fifth place which would be a great achievement.

"We have had a good season, we just have to make sure we finish strongly. It has been a long season for the lads having started in the Intertoto Cup.

"There have been a lot of games and at times during the last few games we have looked tired.

"That's all due to the hard work the lads put in. There is a lot of mileage being put into games.

"That's what comes with being successful. You play a lot of games and we have to learn to deal with that.

"It has been a successful finish as long as we finish in fifth place. You learn from seasons like this and hopefully next season we can take that on board and become a better side."