MONACO boss Adi Hutter insisted his side were determined to upset Aston Villa in the Champions League and not settle for a draw that would take them into the knockout stages.

Villa are currently fifth in the expanded league phase and on course to qualify automatically for the round of 16.

Monaco are three points behind Villa in 16th spot ahead of Tuesday’s penultimate group game at Louis II Stadium.

“We are not an Italian team,” Hutter said when asked if the thought of a 0-0 draw to secure a two-legged play-off to determine a last-16 place would alter his approach to the tie.

“They know how to do that, it is something they have learned. We are a team that likes to play up front.

“It would make no sense to start a match thinking that we want to get a draw. Our DNA is to win matches.

“But if after 90 minutes, we get a draw that qualifies us, of course we will be very happy.”

Villa won four and drew one of their six pre-Christmas Champions League games, with Bayern Munich, Bologna and RB Leipzig among the scalps.

Unai Emery’s side are also on a five-game unbeaten streak in domestic competition and fought back from 2-0 down at Arsenal on Saturday to draw 2-2 in the Premier League.

Hutter said: “We’ll be facing a very stable, consistent team that is capable of coming back the way they did at Arsenal.

“We’ll be facing a coach who has won a lot in European competitions. They have a fantastic goalkeeper [Emiliano Martinez] who won the World Cup.

“In this new format, we have to be careful with every goal. Every goal can be decisive, but we’ll try to win the match.”

Monaco are fourth in Ligue 1 with only one victory in eight games, a 4-1 French Cup success over sixth-tier minnows Union Saint-Jean.

“I won’t say here what we have said, but you can imagine that we had a lot of discussions,” Hutter added at his pre-match press conference.

“Our older players, like Breel [Embolo], Thilo [Kehrer], Zaki [Denis Zakaria], Alexandre Golovine and Takumi Minamino know how to take the lead.

“They speak up because that’s the job. Everyone wants to help and do more.”

Zakaria (illness) and Wilfried Singo (back) are expected to be available after missing Friday’s league defeat at Montpellier, but injured pair Folarin Balogun and George Ilenikhena remain absent.