Carlos Cuellar has urged Aston Villa teammates not to dwell on Sunday's Carling Cup final defeat to Manchester United.

Martin O'Neill's side hit a sticky patch at the same time 12 months ago when a top four place in the Barclays Premier League was a strong possibility.

They eventually finished sixth with both Arsenal and Everton overtaking them, failing to qualify for the group stages of the Europa League.

But defender Cuellar is confident Villa will not suffer the same sort of fate during the current campaign as they start to prepare for next Sunday's FA Cup quarter-final at Reading.

He said: "It is disappointing to lose the final because we so wanted to win but we will have another chance to stand up and be counted next Sunday. It is important to bounce back from this defeat. We have to stand up. We have to fight for the top four in the Premier League and we are fighting for another cup.

"We know what happened last season but I think the team is stronger than last season. We have a strong mentality and we are determined to make the top four and to try to win another cup. We will learn from that experience against United. You have to play in a final to lose a final. I think it is a good experience for us and we need to learn from this game.

"We've had a taste of Wembley, we want to try and get back there in May. We have a good chance to try to get to another final. We have to forget about this game.

"We also want to do it for our fans who were fantastic. We have to say 'thank you' and will try to come back again."