Aston Villa chief Tom Fox says qualifying for the Europa League has them ahead of schedule.

Villa can qualify for the Europa League by beating Arsenal in the FA Cup final, which would be ahead of schedule as far as Fox is concerned. Winning silverware is of more consequence, he insisted.

"It could be great, I wasn't envisaging it that way," he said. "I thought we'd build to it more slowly but the thing would be winning the FA Cup. It would be such a positive emotional driver for what we want to do. I am more focused on that than what it means for Europa League qualification.

"It's all about pride and I sat there at the end of the game and I was incredibly proud of the effort the players put in and for the supporters I thought we outshouted some of the loudest supporters in the world."