Martin O'Neill got his tactics exactly right. Instead of making an arrogant attempt to win a European competition with a threadbare squad, the Aston Villa manager left eight regulars at home for the club's UEFA Cup Round of 32 second-leg in Moscow on Thursday.

While the strategy cost his side thier place in the competition, it consolidated Villa's prospects in the Premier League. It really wasn't a difficult decision at all. Each of Gabriel Agbonlahor, Gareth Barry, Carlos Cuellar, Brad Friedel, Emile Heskey, James Milner, Stiliyan Petrov and Ashley Young will now be fit and fresh for the visit of Stoke City on Sunday and the trip to Eastlands on Wednesday.

For O'Neill, the tie with CSKA Moscow was always going to be a one-legged affair. He was never going to take his full team to Russia. So when CSKA - winners of the UEFA Cup in 2005 - earned an impressive 1-1 draw at Villa Park last week, the die was already cast.

Having said that, O'Neill's makeshift side did reasonably well at Luzhniki Stadium, if only because they limited the hosts to just a pair of goals. Curtis Davies and Zat Knight were solid in the centre of defense while Craig Gardener made a nuisance of himself on the right side of midfield. But they were simply overpowered by a CSKA outfit that oozed confidence and class.

After taking a quarter of an hour to settle, the Moscow side assumed the ascendancy and were bossing the game by the interval. Still, they had to wait until just after the hour-mark to get their goal. It was worth the patience.

After Sidwell had conceded a free kick following a tackle on Milos Krasic, CSKA forward Alan Dzagoev played a short ball to Yuri Zhirkov from goalkeeper Brad Guzan's left. Upon receiving the pass, Zhirkov cleverly played the ball back to Dzagoev before running into the centre of the box. Dzagoev immediately tapped the ball back to Zhirkov who volleyed a thundering strike past Guzan.

It was the only goal the hosts required to seal the result. Vagner Love doubled the scoreline in the third minute of added time - bringing his UEFA Cup total to 10 - after being played into space by Krasic. But Villa were never going to score on this night.

Instead, they've essentially sacrificed one competition for another. And while lesser managers may have lacked the stones to do what O'Neill did, the Northern Irishman recognizes that sound, sensible progress can only be made in the Premier League. That's the focus.

In the next 15 days, Villa will play a trio of winnable matches against Stoke City, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur. They need to get at least seven points from those encounters, given that their following three games will come away to Liverpool and Manchester United and at home to Everton.

O'Neill's decision to forgo the UEFA Cup puts Villa in a better position to control their own destiny in the league. Qualification for next season's Champions' League - and the television money that would accompany it - would position the club to become a force at the top of the table for years to come. That's end game, and losing to CSKA was just part of the plan.

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