While Sunderland were probably flattered to have got a goal in the end, they did deserve to score after coming so close early on. But we should be flattered we got three!

I was disappointed at how difficult Villa found it to break down Sunderland.

Sunderland didn't seem too coherent and didn't come across as being in a position to withhold even Aston Villa for 90 minutes. But they seemed to be doing enough.

Villa were struggling to string more than three passes together and did seem, when going forward, just like Djemba-Djemba (so good they named him twice) had said.

Defensively we looked better than we have done in many other games this season, but I think Liam Ridgewell looks a tad bit out of his depth, or though not so much against the Mackems.

Villa went in at the break with a 0-0 scoreline and they built on this for the second half.

We came out of the blocks better than Sunderland and worked harder than we did in the first 45.

Milner was working his socks off and was easily man of the match, and his good work with Baros led to Hughes cross and Phillips opener.

That move was obviously the type of thing O'Leary and Aitken have been trying to get Villa to do. And it was the last great move of the match from the mighty Claret and Blue.

All the goals were good moves and Luke Moore's introduction for Phillips was influential in the following play.

Moore, like Milner and Baros, was on fire and was running all over the place. It was the first and latter that combined well to lead to the third goal.

However, despite these positives, Villa were still fairly poor for large spells of the game and would have easily been punished by bigger teams, like they were by Liverpool.

Our attacking play was certainly improved and we have been scoring goals this season, but defensively we need to tighten up the midfield and central defence.

Ridgewell isn't cutting the mustard in my opinion and Bouma seems out of place on the left. Maybe a positional swap might do the trick?

McCann, despite receiving plaudits I hear, was quite lost at many times in the game and doesn't have the leadership qualities that an anchor midfield man needs.

I think this was certainly an improvement and needs to be built up on before we play Charlton next week. But I think three points is certainly a possibility, but no way guaranteed without more hard work and persistence.

Don't be fooled by the result, it was only Sunderland. My Sunderland mates have already condemned themselves to relegation and are unsure as to whether they are going to achieve the 19 points that became a Premiership record low points total a few years back.

But the future could be brighter for the boys in Claret and Blue.