Swings and roundabouts for Villa

Villa's Sporting Star columnist Dave Woodhall is hoping it's just swings and roundabouts in a really bad time to be playing in-form Tottenham.

You can look at last Saturday in one of two ways.

Either an away point is always a good one, particularly in a hostile environment such as Burnley - and didn't I tell you it was going to bucket down with rain? - or you might think the performance was poor, the equaliser papered over the cracks and Villa can't hope to stay where they are in the table without a BIG improvement in their style of play.

But, 24 hours later, Tottenham hammered Wigan 9-1. The losing team outplayed us on the opening day of the season, and Spurs are visiting Villa Park on Saturday. Oh dear. But of course things don't work quite so simply, or at least I hope not.

Villa are certainly going to have to up their game to match the current media flavour of the month. Spurs boss Harry Redknapp enjoys coming to Villa Park no matter who he's managing and his charges seem a lot more capable of going the distance than their sides of the past.

The surprise inclusion of Stuart Downing on the bench against Burnley paid off with a 20 minute cameo that helped earn a draw. Emile Heskey finally getting on the scoresheet was a boost as well, so it will be an interesting afternoon at least.

Before the game gets underway, the William McGregor statue will be unveiled on the concourse of the Trinity Road stand. This commemoration of the great man's achievements has been made possible thanks to the fund-raising work undertaken by the Villa Supporters Trust, some generous donations of time and money by club employees and the genius of sculptor Sam Holland.

As you should all know, McGregor was a Villa committee member who became the founder of the Football League. The statue is a way of honouring his memory and of reminding the football world that the most important man in the history of the sport belonged to us.

If you're at the game try to get there a bit early - the unveiling, by league president Lord Mawhinney, is due to start at four.