Mellberg Focused On The Football

Olof Mellberg says he is focussed on the football and is happy to put any talk of a new contract on hold until the end of the season.

His agent was last seen bashing his head repeatedly against a wall shouting No Olof, NO!

O'Neill has spoken of his desire to tie the Swede to a longer contract as the defenders current deal runs out in June 2008.

The bearded on told the official site: 'I'm not too worried about my contract just yet. I've just been focussing on games - not just for Villa, but for the national team. It's important to concentrate on my performances. I'm enjoying my football as much as ever here and it was good to hear the manager talk about the possibility of a new deal. There is a good team spirit here and a feeling that the club is moving in the right direction. I'm enjoying being a part of that and I want to help the team finish the season strongly.'

'This is an important period for us. That's why some of the recent results have been so frustrating - especially the away games.' Adding 'Performances are important, but at this time of the year you want the points - no matter how you get them. We've had a good break now and we have no excuses. We have to turn our performances into results and we need more points from away games. We should have more than one away win this season. Some of the performances in away games have been very good, even when we've been beaten.'

'Maybe at the beginning of the season, you can be a little bit more optimistic if you have the performances but not the results. There is a lot of time to put things right. At this time of the season, you are running out of games, you just need the points to climb the table. That's what we'll be looking at, starting with the game at Fulham.'

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