Villa's form is hard to explain at the moment

I, LIKE most Villa fans, cannot explain what is happening with the side at the moment.

They beat the likes of Arsenal and draw with Manchester United and then are held by Fulham in their next game.

To their credit, Fulham did come and play football in the right way and did enjoy some good periods of possession throughout the match.

They did all that, though, without ever really threatening to score or take all the points.

I fully believe that if Villa had John Carew playing in the game then the result would have been a lot different.

I am not saying by that, that the likes of Gabby Agbonlahor were not up to the task, but sometimes you do need something different to take the points.

You do need that big man who gives you an extra option and that is what he would have given us.

I think John is about three weeks away from fitness and having him back will be like a new signing for the club.

He might not be the only one as with the January transfer window coming up I fully expect to see a forward join the club.

That is the one area that Martin O'Neill's side are really lacking cover for at the moment.

That is meant in no disrespect to Marlon Harewood also but with only Gabby and John to choose from in starting places it does leave Villa a bit light.

In terms of Marlon I do think that he is a good player but a good impact player.

I do not think he has quite got the quality that the club need to push on in Premiership terms.

One player I am surprised that the club have not looked at is Henrik Larsson.

He is a quality player and one O'Neill will know well from their time working together.

He is currently without a club and I have read recently that our opponents this weekend, Everton, are looking at him.

Now they need a forward at the moment as with injuries it looks like they have no real options going into the game.

That does make it a bit easier when it comes to facing them but to be honest Everton are always going to be a hard team to come up against.

They, like Villa, are a team who are looking to break into the top four this season.

It will be tough for both teams to do that, though, especially with every team being able to beat everyone else it seems.

In other news it was good to see Brad Friedel break the Premier League appearance record last weekend. He is a good player and deserves the recognition he got.