Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill is dispatching his scouts across Europe to check on their UEFA Cup opponents.

He told AVTV: "Now is where we do our homework - we will do as much as we can.

"The history of teams like Hamburg and Ajax is pretty immense.

"Hamburg are going great in the Bundesliga at the moment - they have gone top - and you know Ajax will possess quality players.

"We will have to do a touch more homework on the other two but the pedigree throughout is pretty strong.

"Overall, I think it's worked out pretty well. We could have been in some really difficult groups but I suppose, by the same token, we could have been in easier ones too."