Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill must win back the support of his fringe players, it has been revealed.

The News of the World says those closest to Villa feel O'Neill is losing the confidence of many of his players who are upset at his reluctance to make changes to his starting line-up.

Fringe players like Steve Sidwell, Luke Young, Habib Beye and Fabian Delph have grown frustrated at their lack of opportunities despite the team dropping points against Wolves, Stoke and Sunderland.

They are also fed-up with the lack of communication with O'Neill.

"Martin doesn't speak to the players for three days after a bad result. It's almost impossible to get any sense out of him," said a source.