Taking chances is key to Villa successes

By cphilpotts

THIS week has proven to Villa how important it is to take your chances when you are on top.

Going to a somewhat resurgent Newcastle was always going to be a test for Martin O'Neills side on Monday night but they certainly had the chances to take something away from it.

Shay Given, it must be said, had a good game but scoring when you have the chance is what doing well in this league is all about.

Villa, in all honesty, could have done with going up to Newcastle for that game about three or four weeks ago as then the atmosphere up at St James Park was a whole lot different.

The place was a completely different one to be, but now they seemed to have turned the corner a bit.

They have had a few good results and now seem to be a different force for teams to contend with.

Villa would have known this which is why it was so important to score when they had the chances.

It would have annoyed Martin to lose that one as other results certainly went his way last weekend.

Hull City, who are still up there, lost away at Manchester United and Arsenal lost away at Stoke.

It would have been a great chance to put some pressure on those two teams, but it was not to be.

The side have to move on now and after a difficult game in Europe they have a home game against Middlesbrough to look forward to.

It is important Villa take something from that game as they have a tough couple after that in Arsenal and Man United.

It will not be easy against Gareth Southgate's men, though, as they do have a few players who can cause problems.

They are one of these sides who are a mid-table ambitions sort of team but can still beat the top sides along with that.

Up front they have real quality but no consistency and I think that is what holds them back.

They have players like Alfonso Alves and the likes who can get a goal anywhere but who can also be poor.

Villa will go into that game with some good news as Ashley Young has signed a new contract.

I don't think it was ever in doubt that he would sign but I think he might have been thinking about it recently as his high performances dropped a little.

His signing this week does show that Villa can compete with the best when it comes to money and that they have got the resources to be a force in this league.

I think that was obvious as well a couple of weeks ago when John Carew got fined £100,000 – or otherwise known as two week's wages.