Martin's men can take the points if star players shine

WELL it is a New Year but by the look of things it is still the same old Villa as another game went by last weekend and another positive result was earned by Martin O'Neill and his team.

After what has been a fantastic Christmas period for the club, they showed no signs of letting their standards drop with a very impressive away day victory over Gillingham in the FA Cup.

The victory is even more important than normal as it also keeps the team on a high going into a big derby game match versus West Brom this weekend.

The derby match, at Villa Park, is an earlier kick-off than usual but I do not think that will be to the detriment of the atmosphere on the day.

I firmly believe that both sets of fans will be looking forward to this game and whatever time it kicks off you will hear fantastic support for the teams on the day.

It is a game that Villa will want to win to put even more pressure on Arsenal in that chase for fourth spot.

It is also a game that I think Villa can win – despite the good run of form the Baggies are in at the moment.

They have really picked themselves up over the Christmas period and are looking up for the fight.

To overcome that Villa will need to take full advantage of the West Brom weaknesses.From what I can see that is in their defence.

They have trouble keeping clean sheets at the moment and with the firepower Villa have got you would be hoping that they can exploit that.

The likes of Gabby Agbonlahor and Ashley Young will be able to create real problems and that is what Villa will need to take all the points.

A win over West Brom would cap a fantastic Christmas period for Villa, in which they took four points as well as making progress in the FA Cup.

The game against Arsenal on Boxing Day kicked off the festive fixtures and it was good to see the spirit in Martin O' Neill's side on the day.

They started the match so well and should have really had the goals in the bag early on to take the victory.

Arsenal came back well, though, and for a long time it looked like it would be the London club who took all the spoils.

Villa did not give up, though, and were well worth the point they claimed in the end.

Although it would have been better to take all three, a point stopped Arsenal from closing the gap and with the injuries and problems they have got at the moment that will have been ok for Martin.

Villa then followed that up with a win over Hull and once again the side showed spirit when it was needed to get the result they were after.

Those two results left the Villa in pole position in their fight with Arsenal for fourth spot.

There are some real problems with that club at the moment and they are nowhere near the Arsenal that everyone expects.

Villa need to take full advantage of that now and to do that they need to keep the results coming.

To help them do that I would not be surprised to see Martin O'Neill spend in the transfer window now that it is open.

There are a few players that are on his radar at the moment I would guess and – one of those would be a striker I would also predict.

I know that we have got the numbers up there to compete in terms of players currently in the squad, but with John Carew out injured for who knows how long, then it is the experience we miss I think.

We miss the players who have played in this league for a while or who have been around Europe and know what the game is about.

The players who have played at that level for a while and know how to perform.

I think the likes of Emile Heskey are the kind of player he is after, but as always at this time of year, a player who is good and available will always be in demand.

And that is the case with Heskey as, if the papers are to be believed, there are quite a number of clubs trying to prise the Wigan forward away.