Villa favourite Ian Taylor now finds himself unnerved by the challenges ahead with some pertinent points made by the disappointing home draw with Sunderland.

What a great night that was – for Tottenham! I don’t think we can be too harsh on Villa, who ran into Sunderland perhaps three weeks too late after their recent recovery.

But with Manchester City collapsing at home to Everton, what a chance went begging to strengthen the challenge for the top four.

Instead, sitting pretty are Spurs who not only got through to an FA Cup semi-final they will be hot favourites to win, but saw their rivals for the coveted finish in the league slip up behind them. Their manager Harry Redknapp must have enjoyed his glass of wine last night, that is for sure.

I’ve said all along, mind you, that it would not surprise me after a season of constant sniping around their manager if Liverpool still sneaked through at the finish. But this is all so frustrating for Villa and fans, who will now be fearing we are suffering a bit of footballing deja-vu.

No-one needs reminding that it was the fade-out over the final dozen games last season which cost us so dear and two draws against Wolves and Sunderland at home, while not disastrous, do represent missed opportunities.

We aren’t losing many games but we are not winning enough either. Still unbeaten this year but with seven matches out of the 10 drawn. In terms of challenging for fourth it’s just coming up short, isn’t it?

The problems are the same as we have discussed before. That missing dimension to our play which means that if Plan A fails we can turn to Plans B or C. The fatigue of the players is the squad big enough to really sustain a challenge against Spurs and City, who have such huge numbers?

All the same questions would have been running through the minds of the Villa fans as they made their way home last night.

But the end result is that we now need to go down to Chelsea and get a result that will ensure we are hanging in there. That is the true cost of missing a win in either of these last two home games.

Which would have been not quite such a daunting prospect if on the same night Chelsea had not mangled Portsmouth to iron out their own recent wrinkles and give their confidence a welcome injection of positivity.

I think the FA Cup semi-final is a different beast altogether, but the two teams will meet at Stamford Bridge on Saturday with their confidence levels going in opposite directions. Villa have done well down there in recent years and featured in some exciting games but, boy, this one looks tough.

There’s another worry with Everton coming up on the rails. We are at Chelsea on the same day they are at Wolves and as well as Mick McCarthy’s team played the other night, I can see them winning at Molineux.

If they do, and we lose Everton will have caught us up. Suddenly, not even seventh will look secure.

So I hope Gabby is fit for the Chelsea game as Martin suggested he may be. It is clear that Villa miss the something different he provides, which explains why there has been such a big demand from supporters for young Nathan Delfouneso to get a chance.

They just want to see something different out there if the first plan isn’t working. Last night’s game suggested that Martin has got it right in giving ‘the Fonze’ a very gradual introduction to the game at this level. It’s tough, uncompromising and a steep learning curve.

Personally, I think Nathan could be a couple of years away from playing regular Premier League football, although I do not doubt for a moment he has the talent to have an exciting career.

More worrying for me is Emile Heskey. Yet another injury last night at a time when he has been struggling to get through 90 minutes and make the impact he was earlier in the season.

It won’t just be Villa who will be fretting over this – England coach Fabio Capello must be too. The night that we demolished Croatia you would not have got much money betting against Emile starting the World Cup alongside Wayne Rooney, but the challenges are coming up on the rails now and I’m not so certain he may go.

Rooney and Jermain Defoe are certs, so to is Peter Crouch. If Capello goes with four strikers, that just leaves one spot and there are plenty queueing up behind Emile, Carlton Cole and Darren Bent.

But Villa fans will be urging the head coach to give another chance to Ashley Young.

His crossing last night was superb and whatever worries we may have about the rest of the team, it has got to be good news to see him firing in the ball like that for John Carew’s goal.