I was watching with someone today who called us the new Leicester and joked with me about letting Milan Baros leave, not getting Jermain Defoe when we had the chance and playing with a big man up front.

I don't think he's right in saying we're the new Leicester but if Baros could play like that every week I'd have him and we really should have paid what Defoe wanted.

Villa really talked up the importance of this game: from Martin O'Neill describing it as a "must win" fixture, to Craig Gardner banging on about finishing fourth and not settling for fifth or sixth.

Fine words indeed, and not out of place at the time from a group of players operating with confidence, pace and power.

I try not to read too many of the comments on Damian's piece, simply because it makes it more difficult to write an objective article. This time is an exception - and I'm a bit baffled by some of the stuff that's been written.

In brutally short form, I thought Villa were tremendous in the first half and sat back too far in the second. But I always felt they had the edge to come back and win it, and the fact that they did sees us sixth in the Premier League.

I had a nightmare on the roads last night and got back very late from Birmingham at ten past eleven - so you're going to have to accept a Doc's Diagnosis in bullet points.

Mark Hughes was resolute after our 4-0 drubbing of his excellent side at Ewood 10 days ago: "we know they're not four goals better than us, so we'll just put this result behind us and keep going".

At three-nil down in the Birmingham downpour this afternoon, I was thinking the same way: Pompey weren't worth a three goal lead - it was just "one of those days".

I've heard and spoken to some Arsenal fans who are puzzled at why we would feel so positive about this game. Which, I suppose, says a lot about Arsenal fans.

They do tend to live on their own Utopian planet somewhere else from the rest of us, blithely certain that they inhabit some sort of perpetual moral high ground and have a divine right to win everything on the basis of how damned pretty they are.

I didn't get back to Gloucestershire from Blackburn until late yesterday afternoon, so - given that you've all read Damian's comments, most of the media response and probably seen the highlights, it's probably best if I give some reflections on the game rather than a match report.

I want to concentrate on one element of Villa's performance, and that is "character".

There is so much I want to write about tonight, I don't know where to begin. I think I'll start with the David Dunn thing.

None of us know this for sure, but even if he does like men, is it really something we should be singing about? I hope we don't sing about his weight or his sexuality again. There really should be no place for this in football.

I tend to look for an angle, and concentrate on that angle. Tonight, I'm dumbfounded: there are just too many angles to choose from.

First, let's deal with formation. If a team changes its shape when playing at home, that must give massive encouragement to the opposition. In fact, it must say "we're scared of you".