Graphic: Bill Edgar's tactical analysis

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.

After an exhilarating opening, Villa ground out the victory that on Saturday took them fifth but, after the manner in which they had let slip a 4-1 lead away to Tottenham Hotspur five days previously, the Holte End were cheering the display of keep-ball that Shaun Maloney orchestrated in the final minutes to ensure that Craig Gardner’s goal stayed the winner.

“I think people expect us to be up there, with the players we’ve got and the manager we’ve got,” Gardner, the England Under21 midfield player, said. “Can we stay there? Why not? But why not push for fourth?”

Gareth Barry, who impressed Steve McClaren with a combination of precision and aggression as he and Nigel Reo-Coker closed the game down, joked that he “would have to have a quiet word” with Gardner but, after a fourth home Premier League victory in a row, such heady optimism is forgivable. Home fans occupy the ends behind both goals at Villa Park these days and the atmosphere is intensifying correspondingly, not least when Ashley Young and Gabriel Agbonlahor are flying at defenders. Gardner drove in his second free kick in a week, albeit via a deflection off the hapless Danny Gabbidon, after the defender’s disputed foul on Agbonlahor and although West Ham clawed themselves back into the game, Villa showed they can win by digging in.

“I thought we were brilliant first half, lost a bit of energy after half-time and West Ham seized the moment,” O’Neill said. The win would have been more comfortable if Steve Tanner had opted to award a penalty for any one of three law-breaking moments from Lucas Neill.

The Villa manager had reminded Reo-Coker not to go proving points against the club he left so acrimoniously. “There were a couple of opportunities for Nigel to lose it but he kept his cool,” Barry said. “Steve McClaren was here because there is a lot of English talent around at the moment. There were six young English players in our front six and that is great for the club and country.”

Aston Villa 1Gardner 24

(4-4-2): S Carson 6 – O Mellberg 5, Z Knight 6, M Laursen 7, W Bouma 6 – C Gardner 6 (sub: S Petrov, 78min), N Reo-Coker 6, G Barry 7, A Young 7 – G Agbonlahor 5, L Moore 4 (sub: S Maloney, 67 6).Substitutes not used: S Taylor, C Davies, I Osbourne. Booked: Knight, Reo-Coker, Mellberg. Next: Manchester Utd (h).

West Ham United 0

(4-4-2): R Green 6 – L Neill 4, D Gabbidon 4, M Upson 6, G McCartney 5 – F Ljungberg 5, L Bowyer 4, H Mullins 5 (sub: M Noble, 81), M Etherington 5 (sub: L Boa Morte, 81) – D Ashton 6, H Camara 3 (sub: C Cole, 36 4). Substitutes not used: R Wright, J Collins. Booked: Camara, McCartney. Next: Sunderland (h).

Referee: S Tanner
Attendance: 40,842