Aston Villa 2 WBA 1: ASTON VILLA are starting to acquire a little of the sheen of a top-four side. At times on Saturday there was an air of effortless superiority which was only partly down to the fact they were playing the bottom team.

The strength of West Bromwich Albion's recovery after coming in at half-time 2-0 down found Martin O'Neill's players defending anxiously in the closing minutes, but the impression was of a side at ease with itself and its ambitions.

If there was any doubt that Villa are doing something right then Tony Mowbray set everybody's mind at rest by implying he did not think much of their playing style. When beaten opponents start carping about the way they have been beaten then a manager knows he is on sound lines.

Mowbray is an honest football man who, since West Bromwich's latest promotion, has insisted that, whatever happens, his team will continue to play their studious passing game.

Fair enough, at least he is sincere, even if Saturday's defeat was Albion's eighth in a row away. Yet Mowbray sounded faintly ludicrous when he declared, "Villa are a counter-attacking team, they are not really interested in playing football".

The West Bromwich manager warmed to his theme. "Everyone has got their own beliefs on how football should be played," he said. "There is no right or wrong way and ultimately it is results that matter. Villa are winning games, and good luck to them. But all their chances today came from breakaway football. That is what they do. They have got Ashley Young and Gabriel Agbonlahor. They are a counter-attacking team. That is why teams like us are a dream for Aston Villa because we try to retain the ball and move it around. There is space for them to break."

But Albion's thoughtful methods will only succeed at this level if their passing and, not least, their defending are up to it. So far this has not been the case. In fact, only Villa's second goal came from a breakaway. Four minutes before half-time Gareth Barry released Agbonlahor on the left, and as the striker looked up he saw nobody hurrying into the penalty area for a centre. So he tried his luck from the tightest of angles and saw a shot going nowhere diverted into the net off Scott Carson's arm.

The opening goal, after 19 minutes, stemmed from a neat move by Stiliyan Petrov and Barry which led to Ashley Young forcing a corner from which Steve Sidwell saw headers cleared off the goalline, only for the ball to find its way back to Barry, whose cross was nodded in by Curtis Davies.

Mowbray's decision to bring on Roman Bednar for the second half was quickly rewarded when the Czech striker won the ball in the air before James Morrison made space for a shot past Brad Friedel.