Claret and Blue shoots of recovery?

Great! We are now unbeaten in four and have just managed to win for the first time in nine games. Could things be looking up?

Well, I don’t think it is time to get carried away but perhaps there are a few green shoots of recovery that we can look at and build upon in the coming weeks. With Leicester and West Brom – two sides near the bottom of the league and the form table – coming up, on paper, we have a real chance to build a bit of momentum and pull ourselves up into the top half of the table. However, as we all know as Villa fans, it is unlikely to be that easy.

Firstly, what went well? We won, Benteke is back and scored and we actually managed to hold on to a lead, something we had not done since the Liverpool match. We also kept a clean sheet. It is not rocket science: if you don’t concede you cannot lose.

So there are the positives but what can be improved?

We still haven’t scored more than one goal in a game since we beat Hull 2-1 on August 31st (the only time this season that we have done it) and we have only scored eight goals all season. Now that Benteke is back, hopefully, the goals will start flowing again but we cannot rely too heavily on him because if he gets another injury we are back to square one. Joe Cole, who played so well against Burnley, got injured more or less straight away on Tuesday night at Selhurst Park and had to be replaced by Carlos Sanchez. His age, I expect, means he wont be able to play two games in a week so he will probably be out now for the Leicester game, which means that little creative spark that he brought to the team will have to be provided by someone else. I’m not sure who can provide it in his absence.

Getting the win on Tuesday will, with any luck, mean an end to the tactic of going one goal up then holding on for dear life. It is the sign of a team that lacks confidence and against Spurs, Southampton and Burnley it failed. When we were doing it successfully earlier in the season it was because we had confidence and were still a threat on the counter-attack. That hasn’t been the case in recent weeks but, knowing they can do it now, should paradoxically mean it won’t be done too much again because it is rare that you can hold on to 1-0 margins week in, week out.

The next two games can go either way. Now the players have relieved a bit of the pressure that was on their shoulders, it is possible that they will not turn up against Leicester and West Bromwich Albion and lose against two teams desperately in need of points, as the Villa boys tend to do. However, we have a chance to turn the screw and make the most of our recent relatively good form. With Benteke back and hungry for goals, we can certainly win the next two games if the mindset is right. If we do, things should look better than they have done in a while and Christmas will be a little merrier.