Good teams win when they play badly and Aston Villa proved that they are a very good side last night by coming from behind to beat Blackburn Rovers on a bitterly cold and wet night at Villa Park.

Martin O’Neill’s side were out of sorts and heading for their first home defeat of the season in the Barclays Premier League when Stephen Warnock gave Blackburn a first-half lead, but, thanks to goals by Luke Young, Gareth Barry and Gabriel Agbonlahor, they are sitting pretty in fourth place.

“I look like we’ve lost 12-0, but that was our best win of the season,” O’Neill, the Villa manager, said.

“It was our best win because we were a million miles away from being at our best. I thought they would cause us problems and they certainly did.”

Blackburn shrugged off the loss of Roque Santa Cruz, the Paraguay forward, who pulled a calf muscle in the warm-up, to take the game to their opponents and they went in front in the 30th minute when Warnock beat Brad Friedel, the Villa goalkeeper, from the edge of the penalty area with a left-foot strike after a clever one-two with Benni McCarthy.

Paul Ince’s team deserved their lead, but it was snatched away from them on the stroke of the interval when Luke Young scored his first goal for Villa by bundling the ball into the net at his second attempt after a cross by Nicky Shorey.

The arrival after half-time of John Carew, a substitute for Stiliyan Petrov who departed with a hamstring injury, galvanised Villa into action. Ashley Young’s clever pass left James Milner with plenty to do in the penalty area after 64 minutes, but the former Newcastle United winger spun away from André Ooijer before presenting Barry with a simple chance that was impossible to miss.

Blackburn responded with two eye-catching volleys from Morten Gamst Pedersen and Brett Emerton that just missed the target before Villa finally started to play like a top-four side. Agbonlahor added a third three minutes from time after accelerating past Christopher Samba to steer Ashley Young’s through-ball past Paul Robinson, the Blackburn goalkeeper. Defeat by two goals would have been harsh on the visiting team, so it was fitting that Emerton reduced the deficit in the dying seconds with a 20-yard free kick.

“Blackburn must like Villa Park,” O’Neill said. “Every time they come here they pass the ball well and treat the game as if it’s a practice match.”

O’Neill had watched Blackburn on Saturday in their 1-1 draw at home against Middlesbrough and he was impressed with what he saw. Despite starting with the makeshift pairing of Warnock and Keith Andrews, who signed from Milton Keynes Dons in the summer, in the centre of midfield, Blackburn were the better side for long stretches and Villa gained the upper hand in midfield only when Warnock, the former Liverpool defender, had to be substituted in the second half after a clash of heads with Nigel Reo-Coker.

“I’m delighted because for most of the game we were second best,” O’Neill said. “Our passing was poor and our defending was clumsy at times but we somehow managed to conjure a win from somewhere. Even when we are poor we are a threat.”

Aston Villa (4-3-3): B Friedel — L Young, M Laursen, C Cuéllar, N Shorey — S Petrov (sub: J Carew, 46min), N Reo-Coker (sub: S Sidwell 83), G Barry — J Milner, G Agbonlahor (sub: M Harewood, 90), A Young. Substitutes not used: B Guzan, C Davies, Z Knight, C Gardner.

Blackburn Rovers (4-4-1-1): P Robinson — D Simpson, C Samba, R Nelsen, A Ooijer — B Emerton, K Andrews, S Warnock (sub: Tugay Kerimoglu, 68), M G Pedersen (sub: M Olsson, 79) — C Villanueva — B McCarthy (sub: M Derbyshire, 79). Substitutes not used: J Brown, R Fowler, J Roberts. Booked: Samba.

Referee: K Stroud.