Aston Villa's John McGinn wants to back up talk with results

The club has made no secret of its big ambitions and has been among the most active in the January transfer window, signing Philippe Coutinho on loan from Barcelona and Lucas Digne for £25million from Everton.

Goalkeeper Emi Martinez has also been secured on a long-term deal and expressed his desire of competing in Europe.

But Villa currently sit in the Premier League’s bottom half after an inconsistent campaign and midfielder McGinn knows they need to start fulfilling their potential.

“We can probably talk a good game,” he said. “We have been talking about challenging for European football and competing higher up.

“It is up to us now to do the talking (on the pitch). If the season finished now we would be disappointed. It is our job with the games coming thick and fast to get into the top half and take it from there. I don’t think we can get too greedy. We know how difficult the league is.

“There are teams establishing themselves in European football year after year and that is certainly the long-term aim for us.

“We’ve had an indifferent season. We obviously changed manager. We’ve had spells with a couple of good results and performances. We’ve also lost five in a row and almost lost four in a row. In the dressing room that hurts. We believe we are capable of finishing higher.”