Be careful what you wish for. It was this time last year when Aston Villa supporters were spoilt for choice as they bayed for the departures of Doug Ellis, the long-surviving chairman, and David O’Leary, the manager. Yet 12 months on, with a genuine character and very rich man at the helm in Randy Lerner, and with Martin O’Neill, the manager many England fans wanted to succeed Sven-Göran Eriksson, in the dugout, Villa have the same number of points.

The 1-1 draw at home to Everton on Monday means that Villa again have 35 points from 31 games, and no Villa team has finished with fewer points than the 42 O’Leary’s players managed last season.

The club are by no means clear of relegation from the Barclays Premiership after enduring a wretched 20-match sequence in all competitions that has yielded two wins. As O’Neill has regularly pointed out, they were never as good as the third place their nine-game unbeaten start to the Premiership season earned them; neither, in spells against Everton and during the defeats by Arsenal and Newcastle United, have they been as bad as their present position indicates.

Andy Gray, a Villa legend, has criticised the former Celtic manager’s signings and suggested that little has changed from the previous regime apart from the amount of money that has been invested in the squad. O’Neill can point to how little time he had to prepare the squad he inherited upon his appointment in August, although Stiliyan Petrov, the only significant acquisition he made that month, has been the biggest disappointment of the season. His body language suggests that he thinks he deserves better; his form suggests he should be dropped, which would send out a signal to the rest of an underachieving squad.

John Carew, the Norway striker signed from Lyons in January, looks a Villa Park icon in the making and has improved Villa in the final third with workrate and ability on the ground to go with his physical presence.

Ashley Young has all the attributes to come good in the longer term but the £9.65 million winger has appeared beset by nerves in recent games. Phil Bardsley, the defender on loan from Manchester United, has let his standards slip recently and the loss through concussion of Chris Sutton, when he had been leading the line well, was significant.

Gareth Barry has been brilliant all season long and, while he has been waiting for his tenth goal of the season for the entire calendar year, he could do with more help. Starting matches poorly — Villa were well below par in the first halves against Everton and Arsenal, before battling back in storming fashion — and conceding goals from set-pieces are the team’s most obvious weaknesses.

Has O’Neill lost his touch? Those who witnessed slow starts to his reigns at Wycombe Wanderers and Leicester City would tell you that it takes time for his charisma and man-management skills to translate into results.

O’Neill relishes having his squad together for an entire preseason and can count on patience, support and, in his chairman’s case, wealth as he endeavours to rebuild Villa into a top-five force. But that will take time, and progress can start only once this season has been put to bed.

As for the rest of the clubs trying to haul themselves out of danger, anyone who has visited Bramall Lane recently would be able to understand Neil Warnock’s claim that Sheffield United’s home form can be their salvation.

Regularly pulling in 32,000 crowds of supporters so grateful to be enjoying Premiership football, United also have the benefit of facing five of their relegation rivals in the coming weeks, including the clubs at present occupying the bottom three places, Watford, West Ham United and Charlton Athletic. Warnock’s team have lost ground during a run of difficult away fixtures in which they have suffered defeat by Liverpool, Chelsea and Bolton Wanderers and they could drop into the relegation zone for the first time since November should Charlton gain a point away to Manchester City on Good Friday.

Alan Pardew, who has inspired Charlton to collect ten points from the past 12 available, believes that his team can escape relegation but United’s present home form could prove significant, starting with the match at home to Newcastle United on Saturday. Warnock, for one, does not see United’s trip to The Valley on April 21 as the decisive fixture.

“Having caught us up, I’m sure Charlton will now be thinking they are favourites to stay up,” the United manager said. “But don’t forget that Leeds, Watford and Crystal Palace were thinking the same way about catching us in the Championship last season and that did not happen.”

Run-in

Aston Villa

Form guide: Wretched, two wins from 19 games

Fixtures: Blackburn (a), Wigan (h), Middlesbrough (a), Portsmouth (h), Manchester City (a), Sheffield Utd (h), Bolton (a)

Missing in action: G McCann (suspended for two games), M Delaney (knee), C Sutton (concussion)

Predicted points: 43-45

Fulham

Form guide: Steady. Two wins in 16, but also drawn nine

Fixtures: Everton (a), Manchester City (h), Reading (a), Blackburn (h), Arsenal (a), Liverpool (h), Middlesbrough (a)

Missing in action: J Bullard (anterior cruciate ligament), S Elliott (calf)

Predicted points: 40

Wigan Athletic

Form guide: Three wins in seven after dreadful 13-game run either side of Christmas

Fixtures: Bolton (h), Aston Villa (a), Tottenham (h), Liverpool (a), West Ham United (h), Middlesbrough (h), Sheffield Utd (a)

Missing in action: C Kirkland (finger)

Predicted points: 40

Sheffield United

Form guide: Testing. Two wins in ten in calendar year but have got Liverpool, Chelsea, Bolton Wanderers and Manchester United in successive away games

Fixtures: Newcastle (h), West Ham (h), Manchester Utd (a), Charlton (a), Watford (h), Aston Villa (a), Wigan (h)

Missing in action: R Hulse (broken leg)

Predicted points: 40-42

Charlton Athletic

Form guide: Burgeoning. 14 points from past eight games

Fixtures: Manchester City (a), Reading (h), Everton (a), Sheff United (h), Blackburn (a), Tottenham (h), Liverpool (a)

Missing in action: B Thatcher (knee), A Reid (hamstring)

Predicted points: 38

West Ham United

Form guide: Responded to 4-3 home defeat by Tottenham Hotspur with back-to-back victories

Fixtures: Arsenal (a), Sheffield Utd (a), Chelsea (h), Everton (h), Wigan (a), Bolton (h), Manchester Utd (a)

Missing in action: M Upson (calf), D Ashton (broken ankle) Predicted points: 33

Watford

Fixtures: Middlesbrough (a), Portsmouth (h), Manchester Utd (h), Blackburn (a), Manchester City (h), Sheffield Utd (a), Reading (a), Newcastle Utd (h)

Predicted points: 26