CAPE CRUSADER; In association with COMMERCAIL VEHICLES CHAMPIONSHIP O'Neill tells kids: Forget the table ..and think of Table Mountain.

Byline: BY NEIL McLEMAN

WEST HAM 0

ASTON VILLA 1

MARTIN O'NEILL is not yet ready to talk about his team conquering England or Europe. But he wants his players to prepare to take on the world.

Even after his Aston Villa side overtook Manchester United to move into third place, the canny Ulsterman insisted qualifying for the Champions League was still "exceedingly difficult".

Butaftertheir sixth away win of the season in front of Fabio Capello, he told the eight English players on the Upton Park pitch to set their sights on a more glamorous journey. All the way to South Africa for the 2010 World Cup.

"It's great that Fabio goes to see so many English players - maybe that is why he comes to see us," said O'Neill .

"It's very pleasing. I'm well a ware that at the moment, with England playing so well, it's going to be hard for the likes of the younger boys here to come in.

"I've just told them the best thing to do is spend the next 18 months trying to be on that plane when it heads out to South Africa. That'll be the sign.

"I'm saying that to the English boys and Carlos Cuellar, who thinks that in time he has a chance of playing for Spain. The English lads are being talked about at the moment and I'm pleased that they are."

Capello has already called up Ashley Young, who hit the post, and Gabriel Agbonlahor and alsotalked about James Milner in glowing terms last week.

The former Leeds man hardly featured against the Hammers but his 78th-minute cross deflected off Lucas Neill for the winner. "I was trying to put the ball in the right area - if you do that hopefully you get that break," Milner said.

"But I think we deserved it in the end - it was a great battling performance."

Curtis Davies and Luke Young looked solid at the back, Gareth Barry was a class apart in the middle, while Steve Sidwell is back to the form which persuaded Chelsea to sign him.

"My own view is that it is up to each and every one of them," said O'Neill. "It's up to them all. They've got a chance. They know that the England manager will-if he can-get to the games because he's interested in some of the younger players.

"He'll know quite a number of them. It's great for him at this minute because he's won games and he can sit and choose and have a little look at things. That's terrific for him.

It's up to each and every one of those players to try to bust a gut to try to get in."

O'Neill continued: "We're better than we showed today, definitely, but I'm pleased to have won. We've got a group of players here with more than a touch of panache about them, we're breaking on teams like lightning, and it's nice to be among them... it keeps me kind of young."

O'Neill still insists the might of the Big Four are more capable of stringing half a dozen victories together than his squad.

He warned how his team were tired. Yet the way they ground out this result - and how Agbonlahor has stepped in to fill the big shoes of John Carew as centre-forward - suggests they are in for the long haul.

Boxing Day against Arsenal, who they beat 2-0 at the Emirates last month, promises to be a fascinating test. "We go in with confidence," O'Neill said.

And so they should.

I've told them the best thing to do is spend the next 18 months trying to be on that plane for South Africa

MARTIN O'NEILL

COMPUTER

WEST HAM

ASTON VILLA

HAMMERS LACK

KILLER FINISH

BALL POSSESSION

34%

66%

FACE TO FACE

7 Corners 6

1 Offside 

81% Pass completion 67%

20 Tackles 31

8 Fouls 12

2 Cards 1

SHOTS

6 off target 7

8 on target 2

YOU THE MANAGER

MAN OF THE MATCH

(Worth an extra two Fantasy League points)

Brad Freidel

(VILLA)

9

The American keeper made a string of great stops to win Villa the game

VILLAIN OF THE MATCH

Scott Parker

(W HAM)

5

Zola had seen enough in the first half to replace him at the break

ANORAK

This was Villa's third league win in 15 visits to London under boss

Martin O'Neill

WEST HAM

Friday: Portsmouth (a) Prem Sunday: Stoke (h) Prem Sat Jan 3: Barnsley (h) FA Cup

ASTON VILLA

Friday: Arsenal (h) Prem Tue Dec 30: Hull (a) Prem Sun Jan 4: Gillingham (a) FA Cup

WEST HAM: Green 7, Neill 6d, Davenport 7, Upson 8, Ilunga 6, Collison 7 (Tristan 84), Noble 6, Parker 5 (Mullins 46, 5), Behrami 6 (Bowyer 57, 5), Bellamy 8d, Cole 6.

ASTON VILLA: Friedel 9, Cuellar 7 (Reo-Coker 58, 5), Davies 7, Laursen 7, Luke Young 6, Petrov 5, Milner 6d, Sidwell 7, Barry 8, Ashley Young 7, Agbonlahor 7. Goal: Neill 78 (og).

REFEREE: Mark Halsey ATTENDANCE: 31,441

THE VILLA PARK LIKELY LADS

ASHLEY YOUNG:

Martin O'Neill may have been pushing it when he compared Young to Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, but the 23-year-old is rapidly emerging as one of the Premier League's star turns.

GABRIEL AGBONLAHOR:

Nine goals in 18 league starts tell sits own story for the 22-year-old speedster who has already impressed Capello (far right) during last month's friendly victory over Germany.

JAMES MILNER:

Nobody has won more Under-21 caps than the winger whose honest graft and powerful shooting make him a certainty for a senior call-up sooner rather than later.

CURTIS DAVIES:

It will be tough for anybody to break the Rio Ferdinand and John Terry partnership, but the centre-back is now shooting up the pecking order.

LUKE YOUNG:

Won the last of his seven caps three years ago but is now in the form of his life and could be the answer to Capello's problem right-back spot.

GARETH BARRY:

Bounced back after the controversy of his failed switch to Liverpool last summer. The 27-year-old is a class act and certain to be involved in the rest of the qualifying campaign.

STEVE SIDWELL:

The midfielder's career took a nose-dive when he joined Chelsea, but he is now back at the level that convinced Jose Mourinho to lure Sidwell to Stamford Bridge 18 months ago.

NIGEL REO-COKER:

Seems as though he has been around for years, but the ex-West Ham midfielder is still only 24 and will be nearing his peak when the World Cup comes around.

CAPTION(S):

READY FOR TAKE-OFF But O'Neill will not put any extra pressure on his youngsters; UNLUCKY DIP Hammers keeper Green is caught flat-footed as Milner's deflected cross dips in for Villa's winner; DESPAIR Callum Davenport after seeing his late shot saved; ASHLEY YOUNG; GABRIEL AGBONLAHOR; JAMES MILNER; CURTIS DAVIES; LUKE YOUNG; GARETH BARRY; STEVE SIDWELL; NIGEL REO-COKER