They went behind to a Stewart Downing goal on Wednesday night, only for captain Gareth Barry to equalise from the penalty spot. But it was a surprisingly flat performance after they had recently impressed in a 1-1 draw against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.

O'Neill said: "We didn't play well. We played very poorly and it was particularly disappointing in the first half. If was 40 minutes before we had a shot on goal.

"I felt beforehand we were ready for the game but things never materialised for us. While there was some improvement in the second half, we did not put Middlesbrough under enough pressure all evening.

"We didn't create enough and that was the biggest disappointment. I am very disappointed, this was an opportunity to stay with the bunch and we didn't take it.

"We were very flat and we stayed flat for so long. And normally we can pull ourselves around and anyone who saw us play at Arsenal would not believe this was the same side basically.

"Middlesbrough played very well and caused us plenty of problems but if we are going to be contesting this, we have to win games when we are not playing at our best."

Villa are now seven points behind Liverpool and Everton.