Aitken was appointed assistant boss by David O'Leary in 2003

Aitken has been in charge since former boss David O'Leary departed on 19 July.

The future of chairman Doug Ellis is also in doubt but Aitken said: "He has got decisions to make - on managers, takeovers and everything else.

"The distractions don't bother me. From my point of view I have got to prepare the team and get ready for 19 August."

Former Aberdeen manager Aitken guided Villa to a 2-0 friendly victory at Hull on Tuesday, his second win in charge following a 5-0 win over Walsall next week.

He knows his future also remains uncertain but is happy to stay in his post for as long as he is needed.

Aitken said: "It is a great job and you do it to the best of your ability and that is what I am trying to do.

"I've been asked to take on the job until further notice and there's no way I'm going to put the pressure on anyone to make a decision on me, because it's up to the chairman to decide.

"I'm getting a good response from the players and all the distractions away from the ground don't really affect me.

"I'm long enough in the tooth to know what football is all about. It's up to me and the rest of the staff to make sure it doesn't affect the players.

"They read the papers and they watch the television but they've got to be professional and I've made that very clear to them."