Nigel Reo-Coker has called for patience from fans as Martin O'Neill steps up efforts to bolster the Villa squad this summer.

With Villa heading out to Switzerland for a two-game trip tomorrow, the midfielder is confident new faces will soon arrive to reinforce the squad.

And he is sure O'Neill has everything in hand as he assembles a squad to build on last season's top-six Barclays Premier League finish.

Reo-Coker said: "There is a lot going on at the minute with regards to certain players but we are not concentrating on that. We are the ones who are here still and we have to prepare for the new season.

"I've been quoted in the past as saying Martin O'Neill is the best manager in Britain and I stand by that.

"It's a simple quote that everyone knows, but 'Rome wasn't built in a day'. That's a simple fact of life. Martin is a very intelligent man. He knows what players we need.

"He didn't let us down last year and look what we achieved and we know he is not going to let us down this year. The fans just have to be patient.

"People had written us off last year before the season had even started - they said we would finish just above the relegation zone, in the bottom half of the league and not even in the top 10.

"People can say whatever they want to say, at the end of the day it is their opinion. We know how hard we work when we come to the training ground and what we want to achieve as a group of players collectively with our manager and where we want to go."

He continued: "If people want to write us off, that is their problem. When they did so last year it didn't affect us, and likewise it will have no effect if they want to write us off again.

"It is all about desire and the will to succeed - and that is something we have got in abundance. We want to be successful. Everyone at Villa is a winner.

"We are in a transitional period but we want to win games. We are all passionate and aggressive - but in the right nature. It is all about winning matches and being successful.

"We worked really hard last year. We were really successful in what we achieved in such a short space of time and with the size of the squad we had last year.

"It was a successful season - a great season for us - but this season it is all about creating the same type of performances and seeing if we can push ourselves even further to get even higher up that league.

"We have got that winning mentality - we just need to cut out the silly mistakes that we made last year and push ourselves even further.

"The new signings that will come will find it very easy to settle here. They will quickly know what we are about, how we want to win games and how we go about winning games."