Aston Villa had to battle back from a goal down to share the points with Everton at Goodison Park in a game that was few on chances, but sprung into life in the final minutes with both sides reduced to 10 men.

Villa created perhaps the better chances of the first half, although Everton edged the possession. Nevertheless, Everton would consider themselves somewhat fortunate to take the lead on the stroke of half time when a ball lobbed into the box wasn’t dealt with and fell to the feet of Diniyar Bilyaletdinov who fired in through the crowd.

James Milner picked up a knock in a first half challenge and he was replaced for the second half by John Carew, with Gabby Agbonlahor switched to the right wing. The change paid dividends immediately when Villa’s first attack of the second half allowed Gabby to shoot from close range on the right. Tim Howard saved the shot, but the rebound fell to John Carew who levelled the score with his first touch of the game. Well, second if you count the kick off.

From there, the initiative passed back and forth as the two sides struggled to find any real rhythm, but Villa again probably cut out the better chances in front of goal and also shaded possession. Sadly, once again the final ball was often lacking and more could have been made of several chances.

Questions will probably be asked about referee, Lee Probert, who’s game can probably be adequately summed by his first half gaff of showing Stephen Warnock a yellow card for a tackle by Petrov right in front of him. Probert won few fans among the home support when he showed Everton goalscorer Bilyaletdinov a straight red card in the 87th minute and failed to impress the visitors when he evened things up in the 90th minute by showing Carlos Cuellar a harsh second yellow card.

Nigel Reo-Coker came on for Petrov, who was certainly feeling the effects of Bilyaletdinov’s crunching tackle, and saw out the game at right back. However, neither side really came close to stealing all three points.

When the fixture list was announced, I speculated that this tie might be a key encounter this season and for a few seasons to come. It’s testimony to how poor Everton have been so far this season that we might have expected to reap the spoils from their current shortage of fit players. However, I would imagine that most Villa fans would have accepted a 1-1 draw at Goodison Park if offered it before the season started.

However, with Tottenham soundly beaten earlier in the day by Arsenal, Liverpool losing at Craven Cottage and Sunderland held to a 2-2 at home by West Ham, this game was a fantastic opportunity to slip quietly into the top four.

This was the third in a sequence of four away games and all three have now ended in stalemates. On the positive side though, away draws in local derbies shouldn’t be sniffed at. Tricky away ties in cup games are, well, tricky, and that one ended the right way thanks to Guzan’s penalty heroics. And as I’ve already suggested, sharing the points with Everton at their place is nothing to be ashamed of.

What might give us cause for concern is the apparent lack of guile and creativity going forward. There’s very little movement and even less invention. Milner is industrious, but often unproductive. Ash is clearly lacking in confidence, although is always well marshaled and frequently singled out for some rough treatment.

But the biggest problem right now is final ball, be it a cross, a through ball, a little lob over the top, even a simple short pass, no one in Claret and Blue is covering themselves in glory right now. We’ve never been a slick, passing outfit under Martin O’Neill, so there’s little point looking at the passing stats for lack of openings. The truth is that Villa have always carved out good opportunities for themselves from direct, counter attacking football, it’s just that the quality of the final pass has been better in the past. There’s very few balls being sent into the box at the moment that make me involuntarily leap from my seat in the expectation that someone will probably be on the end of it.

The knock on from that, as far as I can see, is that the players aren’t putting in that little bit of extra effort to get in the box and when a decent cross is whipped in, there’s no one stretching that extra inch. And I’m still sat in my seat not expecting anyone to be there. That’s what’s missing for me; expectation that something good could and probably will happen. I hate to admit it, but it really looks like we’re missing Gareth Barry’s quality in the middle of the park.

What we need, I think, is the confidence that can be derived from dishing out a real spanking. One of those games where everything goes right and finishes in a 4 or 5 goal victory would do wonders. Ash and Milner really could do with goals, as could Sidwell and Petrov. It’s a midfield quartet that really could be doing more to add to the ‘goals for’ column.

The next tie, away to West Ham on Wednesday evening, is another tricky one where a draw could well be the result, but after that Bolton come to Villa Park and with all due respect, they’ve got to be ideal candidates for a confidence boosting romp. (They were soundly beaten 4-0 by Chelsea at the Reebok today).

Seriously though, if not Bolton, then who do you see Villa putting to the sword any time soon? With Liverpool looking particularly vulnerable, Tottenham revealing their weaknesses and question marks still hanging over Man City’s heads, we could establish ourselves as a genuine contender for one of those spots in the top four with strong a win or two sometime soon.