Aston Villa 1 West Ham United 0

Wing Wizard Young Keeps English Flag Flying by David Lacey

While the presence of 14 Englishmen on the Villa Park pitch at the start would have pleased Sepp Blatter, the president of Fifa, who wants teams to be restricted to five foreigners, the match itself supported the view of Arsenal's Arsène Wenger that such a move would undermine the quality of the football... Guardian

Walls Have No Fears For Gardner by Duncan Castles

Hundreds of millions have been spent on purchasing and renovating these two stalwarts of the English game, yet still they inhabit the twilight zone of the Premier League. Capable enough to trip up a superpower once in a while, but struggling for the consistency that would earn their owners a European away day... Observer

Ashton Injury Compounds Misery by Brian Doogan

FOUR goals failed to accomplish the job for Aston Villa on Monday night against Tottenham but, with a converted free kick by Craig Gardner and a much more assured defensive display, Martin O’Neill’s team needed just one strike to rise to fifth in the Premier League at the second time of asking... Sunday Times

Villa Park Remains A Fortress by Peter Lansley

Manchester United are the next side to visit Villa Park and it is testimony to the platform Martin O’Neill is building that since the Barclays Premier League champions ran out 3-0 winners there before last Christmas, Aston Villa have been beaten at home only by Arsenal and Liverpool... Times

Ashton Injury Is Hammer Blow by Mike Rowbottom

An afternoon of increasing frustration for West Ham ended in something distinctly worse, both for themselves and England, when Dean Ashton suffered a knee injury that reduced him to the role of walking wounded by the end of this frantic but largely unaccomplished match... Independent

Ashley Young Shines As Dean Ashton Suffers by Clive White

Steve McClaren was at Villa Park yesterday afternoon – well, it's not as if there was anywhere else for him to go – ostensibly to run the rule over West Ham's Dean Ashton and Villa's Ashley Young for the upcoming European Championship qualifiers. The latter will have left the deeper impression upon the England coach, along with his Villa team-mate Gabriel Agbonlahor, rather than the lumbering West Ham target man... Sunday Telegraph