While Blues manager Steve Bruce has been given the full financial backing of co-owner David Sullivan and chairman David Gold, O’Leary has had to slash his squad with 11 players leaving since he replaced Graham Taylor in May.

He has only brought in three replacements at a cost of around £5.5million in Thomas Sorensen, Gavin McCann and Nolberto Solano.

And the capture of Solano from Newcastle during the January transfer window means, as matters currently stand, O’Leary will only have around £2.5million available for strengthening in the summer although there have been rumours of an American consortium taking over.

But O’Leary is determined to press ahead with his vision for the future at Villa although he knows that the recent successful run has raised expectations to an inflated level.

O’Leary told PA Sport: “This season has been all about stability, staying in the Premiership, a lot of pruning of the squad and trying to move forward at the same time which is a hard thing to do.

“It’s nice the fact that people are getting carried away and talking about things like Europe so we know that we are moving in the right direction.

“It’s been about giving the people here confidence and creating a good atmosphere – and getting to 40 points as quickly as possible.

“That’s been like Plan A and then, when we get to the summer, we have to have the plan for where the club is going to go over the next four or five years. That’s the agenda. That’s me being honest and realistic.

“We will then start to shape this club, to point it in the right direction and give the fans something to look forward to, show them that things are getting built here for the future.

“It will be a big job in the summer with 10 or 11 players having left the club and four or five more out of contract at the end of the season. I know it’s a hard job here. But it’s a challenge I want to try to succeed with.”

In the short term O’Leary would dearly like to lead Villa to a first victory over Birmingham since they came into the Premiership 18 months ago and take the club ever nearer to 40 points.

A splendid revival in the past three months has lifted them out of the bottom three – a position they occupied in early December – to their current unexpected lofty standing.

But it will not be a case of Villa being able to rest on their laurels once Premiership safety is guaranteed.

O’Leary added: “People get carried away. One week it’s doom and gloom and a few weeks later it’s talk of Europe. You can’t control that.

“But I am in control of myself. I want to get to 40 points as quick as I can and then try to drive on.

“It was a bit of a rollercoaster ride at the start of the season but if you look at the results from since the Wolves game in early December we have been very consistent.

“It will not be a case of ‘job done’ if we reach that 40-point mark. I want to try and improve on last year and see how much we have improved and see how far we go in the league.”

O’Leary will again be without the suspended McCann for the derby while Mark Delaney is facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines with his foot injury.