Pub To Premiership, Perfect Timing

Speaking on the official site, Davies explained that his first Villa goal came at the perfect time for us and helped take the sting out of Wigan so we could take all 3 points.

Davies equiliser was a massive boost to Villa who were very disappointed to conceed from the freekick (see even I'm doing it now), and after such a devestating Cup debut, Davies Premiership debut couldn't have gone better if he himself had written the script.

'I haven't scored in over a year and a half. In fact, I think my last one was against our next opponents, Tottenham, at White Hart Lane for West Brom.

'There was no better occasion to score my first goal than on my first Premier League start and it came at a good time for us.

'We knew that if we got into our stride early in the second half, they could fold. I scored and then we got another and Wigan really didn't have a reply after that.

'They seemed to be knocking a lot of long balls but Martin, Olof and myself just kept coming and cleaning them up.

'The main thing was the result. We won and that was the important thing for the manager and all the players. I managed to score a goal and I was delighted with that.'

Like others, Davies has also commented on the state of the pitch and he's pleased that Villa were able to overcome the conditions to not only take the win, but also to put in quite an entertaining performance.

'We've had to show real grit and determination on the difficult pitch. That's sometimes better because you know you can't really play.

'You just need to be solid, don't get turned and don't slip over. It wasn't a day for football!'

It may not have been a great day for football, but it was a great 3 points. Although we will certainly play prettier football, we've done that before and come away with nothing. Sometimes a battling performance without the flash, one touch football does get a better return.

Now if only we could convince referees to let players tackle properly football would be back to its best, rather than the money driven ballet we have to suffer thesedays.

Roll on 2008!

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