Best of the rest?

It seems that most of the experts have the race for the Champions League spots are done and dusted in the eyes of the 'experts', but in fairness, you'd have to be a real dyed-in-the-wool Villa fan to think they're likely to leapfrog Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool (although they might well get the better of Hull in the long run!).

But is the battle for fifth such a clear-cut situation as it's being made out to be.

The early signs look good, but there's a definite concern surrounding strength in depth in the striking department.

A John Carew-less Villa may have got the result against Ajax during the week, but you wonder whether a long-term injury (or a couple of free nightclub invites!) to the big target man would hamper Villa's longer-term progress.

Despite becoming something of a cult figure, Marlon Harewood hasn't really looked capable of being the spearhead in the Villa Park attack whenever he has been called upon, while the brief glimpses of young Nathan Delfouneso would indicate that he is more moulded for the post of back-up to Gabriel Agbonlahor.

So Villa's continuing push for the best of the rest title, could well be defined by O'Neill's desire to bring in another target man in January.