Aston Villa's Uefa Cup dream, which looked all but dead and buried after Saturday's shock defeat to Wigan Athletic, is still alive and can still be achieved after closest rivals Everton's latest slip.

That's the view of midfielder Stiliyan Petrov who is determined to get his team going with a bit of rabble-rousing as they prepare for this weekend's do-or-die trip to West Ham United.

Petrov believes the fact that Everton slipped up again by losing 1-0 to Arsenal at the weekend has put Villa back in the box seat for Europe. Villa must now win at Upton Park on Sunday and hope Newcastle United can over-turn Everton.

Petrov said: "The race is still on and we are determined to end the season on a high. It can be done but we have to really go for it on Sunday and hope results elsewhere go our way."

The Bulgaria international refused to even contemplate that there is a risk Villa could even miss out on their back-up plan of the Intertoto Cup, if they lose at Upton Park and their next closest rivals, Blackburn Rovers, overturn Birmingham City.

Petrov said: "We want to play in Europe and we want to finish the job. We've made our job harder but it is not impossible.

"We'll go to West Ham trying to win and hopefully the result will go our way in the other game. It was disappointing to lose after the run we've had but it is important to bounce back straight away.

"We'll give it our best shot at West Ham and if you look at our results this season, we know we can win away from home. We will go there confident we can win.

"West Ham will not want us to win at their ground; they will want to end on a high for their fans. But no game is easy in this league at any time of the season."

Petrov said he hoped the Villa fans, who had been bitterly disappointed with the result and the performance against Wigan Athletic last weekend, would give their all to the cause on Sunday.

He said: "The message to the fans is that it is not over yet. We will go to West Ham looking for three points and we'll see where we are when the season finishes."

Petrov added: "Obviously we were disappointed against Wigan because we lost and that was a very good chance to put pressure on Everton.

"But we should not forget there's one more game to go. There are only three points between us and we won't give up. We'll keep fighting right to the end of the season."

Petrov's views are shared by Villa boss Martin O'Neill, who was delighted to see a Nicholas Bendtner goal deny Everton a share of the spoils at The Emirates.

Villa still have the better goal difference over the Toffees which could yet swing the Uefa Cup their way.

O'Neill said: "From our point of view, Everton losing on Sunday was a good result and it means we go to West Ham next week with everything still to play for.

"We'll be going all out to get the three points and that could still be enough to qualify automatically for the UEFA Cup.

"Everton's defeat at Arsenal does not in any way take away the disappointment from Saturday's defeat against Wigan. But if it means we have a second chance, then we'll do everything within our power to take it. We've got a very tough game at West Ham but we're going there with a massive incentive."