Friedel doubts Villa's top four hopes

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Villa finished sixth last term and Friedel, snapped up for £2.5million from Blackburn at the weekend, is hoping to help the club build on that impressive campaign.

But the 37-year-old American knows challenging the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool will be a big task and said: ""Everyone has to put into perspective how difficult it is to play in the Premier League and how quickly things can change based on one goal here and one result there."

He added: "Realistically, you cannot say how Villa will perform.

"They finished sixth last season and I know the chairman, Randy Lerner, and the manager Martin O'Neill's ambitions are to move the football club forward.

"You never want to go into a season thinking that you are going to do worse than the previous campaign. But it is going to be hard as the Premier League is always difficult.

"You have teams like Newcastle United, who are going to perform well, while Everton and Tottenham are both very good teams. Tottenham are not going to have such a bad season as they did last term.

"If Villa bring in some new players and everyone stays fit and healthy we have every chance to have a good season.

"The dream scenario would be for Villa to have a really successful season and finish in a higher position than they did last May."