O'Neill insists he has been stepping up his plans to bring in new blood while trying to sort out the Gareth Barry mess.

O'Neill said: "I went out and did some games for the BBC. I was working there for two or three days in the week but then coming back and working here.

"It was not as if I spent three weeks out in Austria - not that I should have to explain myself to anyone other than one person at this football club (owner Randy Lerner)."

O'Neill is also aware his squad have to click back into gear quicker than normal as they will be on Intertoto Cup duty in just over two weeks.

He said: "My normal build-up would be a wee bit more leisurely, getting players into it and building into it. But here we have to try and get into competitive mode very early on.

"Now we've got to get ourselves together, get our preparation ready for the Intertoto."

Villa will fly out to Switzerland on Tuesday and will play FC Wil on Thursday and FC Zurich 48 hours later.