There were no signs of rust today as Villa returned from the two week absence and put in a confident, dominant performance to beat Blackburn 4-1 with two goals from Ashley Young – one from the spot – Stewart Downing and a Grant Hanley own goal, turning Marc Albrighton‘s low shot/cross into his own net.

All five goals came in the second half, Nikola Kalinic grabbing a late consolation with nine minutes left – possibly receiving a fortuitous deflection sending the ball looping over Brad Friedel’s head – only to see it cancelled out almost immediately by Ash.

Starting XI, Albrighton on the right, Downing on the left

It may have finished 0-0 at half time, but Pires was at the heart of almost everything Villa did going forward and managed four shots from dangerous positions, forcing a couple of decent saves from Paul Robinson, and drew a couple of yellow card earning fouls.

Villa started the second half as they finished the first; with Stewart Downing on the right and Marc Albrighton on the left. Aside from an early scare right after kick off, Brad Friedel being forced into making his first save of the game, it was Villa looking to take the game by the scruff of the neck.

Ash opened the scoring from the spot after being tugged down robbing a ponderous Keith Andrews of possession in the box, after Kyle Walker‘s cross had been blocked.

The second goal came just after the hour mark, the culmination of a series of five corners, the last one finding Albrighton lurking in space on the left, cutting inside and firing a right footed shot/cross into a crowded six yard box, Grant Hanley’s instinctive block diverting the ball past his own keeper.

The third was a classic counter attack just two minutes later, Ash unleashing Stewart Downing cantering into space down the right before heading toward goal and firing a left footed shot to the far post.

Blackburn’s goal had more than a touch of fortune about it, Kalinic’s speculative effort taking a wicked deflection off Richard Dunne, looping over Brad Friedel with a stunning amount of dip.

Any hopes of a late comeback were short lived as Ashley Young restored the three goal cushion barely a minute later after being left criminally unmarked sauntering into the box to collect a short pass from Downing and thump past Paul Robinson from all of 12 yards.

Blackburn finished the game with 10 men after Ryan Nelsen was dismissed in injury time for a second bookable offence, taking Ash out with a desperate sliding tackle from behind.

Inverted wingers, Delph at left back following Baker's injury.

Robert Pires left the pitch to warm applause with roughly 15 minutes left to play, Stan Petrov on as his replacement. I missed Heskey coming on to replace Darren Bent with seven minutes left, but I found a new stream in time to see him going close at the near post.

Overall, there’s much to be extremely pleased about. Villa were always in control during the first half, although the game started in fairly low key fashion, building steadily toward half time. The second half was about just engaging the next gear and cranking up the pressure before Blackburn, who offered very little today, finally buckled.

Call it confidence if you like. There may have been a little swagger at times, but the players looked infinitely more comfortable in what they were supposed to be doing than was the case a month or so ago. Patience too a key quality, but that stems from confidence.

Most importantly though, it’s three sweet, sweet points, up to 12th in the league, looking up instead of down, and there are quality options beyond the starting XI.

We’re six points behind the top six with 10 games to play and can’t be written off going to Eastlands on Wednesday, despite City’s strong showing in their last few games.

We’re back. On every level.

Villa starting XI: Friedel, Walker, Dunne, Clark, Baker, Albrighton, Pires, Reo-Coker, Downing, Young, Bent. Subs: Marshall, Heskey, Petrov, Bradley, Agbonlahor, Delph, Herd.

Blackburn starting XI: Robinson, Salgado, Nelsen, Hanley, Olsson, Andrews, Jones, Grella, Pedersen, Emerton, Santa Cruz. Subs: Bunn, Roberts, Givet, Mwaruwari, Kalinic, Nzonzi, Diouf.