Steve Sidwell is confident Aston Villa Football Club can recover from their poor start to the season.

The Midlands club lost their opening Premier League match and then lost in the Europa League, but Sidwell believed they can recover from these early blows to challenge for a place in the top four.

"Is the top four further away now? Not at all. It is going to be a very tight league this year, as you can see from some of the results already,” said the former Reading midfield player.

"We will still be in there competing come the end of the season. It is important for us to get our season on track as soon as possible really. There has been a lot of progression at other clubs.

“But we've got more than enough to deal with that and be contenders. The two defeats have not affected the mood. You want to get off to a good start, especially in the Premier League and in Europe.

"It hasn't happened for us but we are a good, young vibrant side that can deal with that and the most important thing at the moment is that the games come thick and fast to easily turn it around."