Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill insists he'd never demand the club risk their financial future by spending big in the transfer market.

"I do not want to be presiding over a bankrupt Aston Villa Football Club," O'Neill told BBC WM.

"It won't be while I'm here and it certainly won't be while the owner [Randy Lerner] is here.

"But it doesn't mean that you just down tools and stop trying. That's not the nature of it."

He added: "The major one being would we have the wherewithal, come February if we were in a similar position, to be able to withstand what would be in front of us.

"Those are the type of questions, and I think that during the course of the season, maybe we'll find the answers.

"But at this minute, what I would concentrate on is the excitement of the new season starting."