Ugly win has Villa sitting pretty

IF a side’s ability to win when they fall well short of their own high standards is a gauge of their ability to compete at the very highest level, Aston Villa’s top four rivals have every right to feel nervous as the season’s end-game approaches.

Villa were nothing like their usual fluent selves at the Stadium of Light and played the last 20 minutes without Ashley Young, sent off for a clumsy tackle. But still they won, for the fifth time in succession.

Martin O’Neill’s side look determined to hold on to their three-point advantage over Arsenal in the race for Champions League qualification and those who had predicted an implosion look more misguided by the week.