Aston Villa 0 Sunderland 1PSYCHOLOGICAL HELP has been on offer at the Stadium of Light in recent weeks but it is difficult to believe Roy Keane needs any advice on how to affect a footballer's mind. Having taken Michael Chopra, Kieran Richardson and Daryl Murphy out of their comfort zone seven days earlier, the Sunderland manager recalled the trio here and was rewarded with a result that was celebrated with such elation that it felt as though Premier League survival had been secured.

That is not nearly the case yet but Sunderland's ebullient supporters could be forgiven for over-reacting at the final whistle. This was their first victory away from home in the league this season - Chopra's was the first goal Sunderland have scored on the road this year - and, given the small margins in the relegation zone, the three points could prove decisive.

Anxious to bring an improvement, Keane has turned to Bill Beswick, Steve McClaren's former sidekick, to introduce some positive thinking, although the three players dropped for the Chelsea match were not in need of any extra motivation. That much was clear as Chopra and Richardson combined for the goal, the former Cardiff striker racing on to the midfielder's long pass before lifting the ball over Scott Carson to send the travelling fans into delirium.

"I was very disappointed last week to get left out but I knew the only way to get back into the team was to perform well in training," said Chopra. "I managed to do that and my next step is to try and stay in the team. I wouldn't say that last week was a wake-up call. It's just keeping the players on their toes a little bit. It means that, if you slack off, you are going to get left out. That's what happened with three of us. But the three of us have come back in and done a good job.

"A lot of people have been saying they paid £5 million for me and I'm not worth it," added Chopra, who was linked with a return to Cardiff last week after Dave Jones tried to resign the striker on loan. "All I have got to do is keep trying to score goals and shut those people up. Thankfully I managed to do that against Villa and we got a massive three points. We've got that little bit of breathing space over the teams below us now and we know we can only chuck it away."

Aston Villa did exactly that. Martin O'Neill said afterwards the defeat was his nadir since taking over the club in August 2006, as their European hopes fade. Key figures, including Gabriel Agbonlahor, Gareth Barry and Ashley Young, are no longer playing with the same confidence while it is no surprise that a defence which includes Zat Knight and the error-prone Carson has failed to keep a clean sheet since November.

"It's my job to get it right; that's my responsibility," said O'Neill, whose side have slipped to seventh place. "We've had over 42,000 people here today expecting better than that. Every misplaced pass is my job. I've got to look at it. However the team performs it's down to me. If there are plaudits to be had, I'll take them. I've been here 18-19 months and this is as low a point as I've felt. Today shows we have a good distance to go. Maybe it's been a bit of a check for all of us."

Keane felt his side deserved to break their away duck. "We have been unlucky in some away games. It is not as if we have been battered every week. We have played quite well without being able to get over the finishing line but today we achieved it."