Ashley Young and Darren Bent get the goals for England plus other international news

Ashley Young and Darren Bent scored both goals for England in a 2-1 victory over Denmark in Copenhagen tonight. It capped a pretty decent performance from England despite conceding an early Daniel Agger goal.

It was Ash’s first goal for England, winning his 12th cap, and Bent’s 2nd goal in what was amazingly only his 8th appearance for the national side. I think they’ll be in Capello’s plans again next time.

Bent played the full 90 minutes and might have scored more,

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Villa Players In EA Sports Index – 23rd November 2010

I somehow managed to miss posting an EA Sports Index update during October, but it wasn’t deliberate, merely an oversight on my part.

Given that the index is primarily a measure of contribution to a winning team, you probably won’t be surprised to find that we’re not exactly packing the top 100 with Villa players. There are just six Villans in the current top 100, none in the top 20; Stewart Downing the highest ranked in 24th place.

Similarly, Bolton’s high

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Aston Villa 3 Blackpool 2 – James Collins late winner provides a vital three points

It might not have quite been the Thrilla at the Villa I expected during the opening 45 minutes, but it sparked into life during a great 2nd half with no shortage of drama,  James Collins heading in a last minute, emphatic winner when it looked like three points had once again been thrown away with minutes to go against a Blackpool that featured 10 changes.

In truth, there could have been considerably more goals if Marlon Harewood had finished several 1st

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Video: behind the scenes with England Under 21s vs Romania

The FA have just released this fascinating “Tunnel Cam” video giving a glimpse behind the scenes in the build up, during and after England’s 2-1 victory over Romania Under-21s at Carrow Road last night. Nice to see Albrighton and Delfouneso looking relaxed and chatty as they exited the dressing room before kick off.

Both Villans started on the bench, but Albrighton came on in place of Utd’s Tom Cleverley for the last 15 minutes with the game tied at 1-1

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Something I Think Villa Fans Should Get Used To Seeing

I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty excited about the potential attacking force of the four players above and I’m optimistic that we’re going to see this foursome regularly celebrating scoring in front of cheering fans.

Stewart Downing, as the newest player, is the biggest unknown, but he looked good as a provider in his brief cameo at the end of the game at Burnley. He put in an impressive performance for the reserves before scoring on his full

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Shorts – News You Probably Already Know

Definitely news we already knew, Stewart Downing may be fit before Christmas.  Or New Year.  Basically, nothing different from when he came to the club in the summer. Still, it’s nice to be reminded of his existence.

The reserves were recently held to a scoreless draw in Stoke, but the Academy smashed Reading for six at home.  New picks Halfhuid and Carruthers were involved. Nice.

You can listen to MON interviewed by Stan Collymore on Talk Sport here. Worth

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The Magnificent Seven

Despite some early blockbusters, it’s been quite a subdued transfer market overall this summer. Nevertheless, Martin O’Neill managed to match last summer’s influx by bringing in seven new faces, although his hand may have been forced somewhat by the exists of Gareth Barry & Martin Laursen.

Here’s the seven in the order they joined:-

Stewart Downing, 16/07/09, £12m, Middlesbrough
Fabian Delph, 04/08/09, £8m, Leeds
Habib Beye, 07/08/09, £2.5m, Newcastle
Andy Marshall, 12/08/09, Free, N/A
Stephen Warnock, 27/08/09, £8m, Blackburn
James Collins, 01/09/09, £5m, West Ham
Richard Dunne,

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