Cold Trafford..get it?

THE arguments over a five man midfield should now subside.

4-4-2 worked a treat against albeit a severely weakened Manchester United.

John Carew and Gabby Agbonlahor proved they can play together.

And Villa proved that their is spirit in their side.

It might sound funny but a fourth straight defeat might be just the platform for Villa to push on and cement that fifth place.

Not fourth? Well, like most I fear that that six point cushion, which is effectively seven to Arsenal, is too much to claw back.

Sure Arsenal have to play the top three. But they'd have to lose the lot.

Martin O'Neill had spoken of wanting to keep the gap to one or two points after the tricky games against Tottenham, Liverpool and Manchester United.

What he and Villa are now facing is a six-pointer against Everton that is pretty much a winner takes all enounter for fifth.

Sure everyone at Villa will have been dismayed by that late collapse at Old Trafford when the team were on the verge of re-writing history.

With 20 or even 15 minutes to play I still thought they were more likely to win 3-1 than draw 2-2 let alone lose.

But lose they did.

And yet in such a way that I think they've bought some valuable patience this Sunday.

It would surprise me if there is any negativity around at Villa Park which may have been the case should Everton have been having the better of things for, say, 25 minutes or so.

There were obvious negatives at United. Is Curtis Davies good enough? Or is it a confidence thing having recently been out of the side? His first half error which allowed Ryan Giggs a free run on goal was woeful. His defender thereafter saw him hacking the ball to all sides of the 'Theatre'.

Should Brad Friedel stand behind his wall after he has lined up his defenders at free kicks? Stiliyan Petrov will not have been the only one angry at the American.

Do Villa defend deeply whilst on the verge of glory because of naivety? Or is it nerves? Or is it simply a lack of tactics?

Does Ashley Young have a self-destruct button when facing the big four? How childish was his continued rant at a linesman which earned him his booking, regardless of whether he thought he was right.

Does James Milner offer anything other than 90 minutes of honest workrate? The first goal was down to his mistake in tapping the ball back, but in the heat of battle far worse attrocities can occur. He didn't mean to do it.

Anyway, the simple fact is that they were only beaten by two superb goals out of the blue. No complaints. It was unfair, but that's football.

Mike Riley was poor throughout. Not just in his decision to find five minutes of stoppage time for three substitutions, minor treatment to Agbonlahor and two goals.

The positives? Many and varied.

Nicky Shorey took the bull by the horns, so to speak. Wherever did he find the confidence to run with the ball at opposition defenders after being out of the league side for five months? His defending was fine too.

Ronaldo once again got the plaudits, for his goals but whenever did he open up Villa with his running?

Luke Young is consistently good and a good outside bet for Player of the Season.

Carlos Cuellar had arguably his best game for the club, showing a turn of pace and reading of the game hitherto rarely seen.

Gareth Barry and Petrov were outstanding. The latter got my vote for man of the match but it could have been either.

And the twoup front in John Carew and Gabby Agbonlahor rolled back the clock to the tail end of last year when the Norwegian was talismanic before he slipped out late one night before the Ajax game.

Agbonlahor fluffed his lines with one or two wrong decisions or misplaced passes late on when Villa really could have wrapped things up on the break, but his goal and all round play were symptoms of a player enjoying a resurgence of confidence after that England call-up.

That's two goals in a week for him, although the first was in January against Albion and only credited to him a few days ago. How crazy is that 'dubious goals' panel?

Nine games without a win is not the best time to be holding a "Thanks for Going to Moscow" meal.

But there are signs at least of an upturn in fortunes.