Mellberg, who is joining Juventus on a three-year contract this summer, has seen Villa twice fail to build on positions when they threatened to become a major force.

They led the Premier League during the first half of the 2001-2002 season only to fade away and then missed out on goal difference on a UEFA Cup spot in 2004.

Now the current crop of players are looking to defeat West Ham at Upton Park on Sunday and hope Everton slip up at home to Newcastle to seal fifth spot.

Mellberg said: "It will mean a lot to end my Villa career with a European spot. That has been our aim the whole season and every season since I came here.

"It would mean a lot to do that in my last season, on the last day especially, and be a good way to finish at a club where I have so many good memories.

"In my first season we started really well in the league and were top after 10-15 games and were also competing in the UEFA Cup.

"We then came sixth under David O'Leary and only missed out on goal difference to Newcastle.

"There have been times when things were looking good but we haven't been able to be up there on a regular basis which has always been the same. We didn't kick on."

Mellberg is loathe to make comparisons between Villa squads from different eras but sees a bright future for Gabriel Agbonlahor, Ashley Young and company.

He added: "We have a lot of young talented players now and back then we had a lot of older experienced players - Peter Schmeichel, Paul Merson, Ian Taylor, Dion Dublin, Steve Staunton.

"They were great players but probably at the end of their careers. Now we have a lot of young players at the start of their careers and have been key players for us this season.

"It definitely looks good for the future now."

Martin O'Neill has no fresh injury problems for the Hammers clash as Villa look to bounce back from the shock 2-0 home defeat to Wigan last weekend.

But midfielder Craig Gardner has failed in his bid to recover from the thigh injury suffered when on England Under-21 duty five weeks ago.