Aston Villa blogger Matthew Turvey believes a change of approach could be needed against Newcastle to cover the loss of injured striker Emile Heskey.

With Villa back playing at home this weekend against Newcastle, it will arguably be a game where three points will be the aim.

Of course, we should always be looking for a positive performance in games, although this does not always equate to a win.

In fact, there are many times where a win has eluded us due to bad luck, bad form, or simply being outplayed.

So the main question as a fan besides “will we win?” is most likely to be “who will replace Emile Heskey?”

With striker-cum-midfielder Heskey suffering from a hamstring injury, his replacement in the first team may not be as obvious as some might think.

Many have considered Barry Bannan as a relative shoe-in for the game, given his creativity, although this is hardly a like-for-like switch.

As long term fans of Emile will know, his role is a puzzling one. Termed for most of his career as a striker, his goalscoring statistics would dictate otherwise.

In fact, at present, he might be considered an advanced holding midfielder, with his physical presence being the primary reason as to why he has a first team spot, coupled with a strong work rate.

If you were to ask Fabio Capello, or any England boss regarding their view of Heskey, they will say his contribution is not in goals, but in team effort.

Puzzling for a supposed striker, but certainly the major reason why he has played for us this year under manager Alex McLeish.

So with Heskey out, Barry Bannan might offer the work-rate component of Emile’s contributions, but his height is clearly nowhere near the same.

Thus, I think the changes might be better enacted by a bigger change to to the team rather than just swapping one player for another.

They may be better by actually switching Heskey effectively out of the team. Now I know that Heskey is already out because of injury, but it may mean a tactical change to make the shuffle work.

That would involve a switch to 4-4-2. I’m not convinced by the effectiveness with how it might work against Newcastle, but it would allow for more attacking through a Darren Bent and Gabby Agbonlahor partnership.

Bent is largely better as a striker on his own but, given that Gabby is now outscoring him and 4-4-2 might increase both strikers’ supply, then it could be wise to have Marc Albrighton and Charles N’Zogbia wide.

This move might placate, or even stimulate, the majority of fans who have, to date, been a strange combination of either silent or vocally critical at home games.

Maybe defence doesn’t cut it when it comes to Villa’s tactics and fans expect more because we have a long history of success, even if the vast majority of those successes came before I was an adult. I’m 32-years-old now.

Villa fans expect three points from most games even now though. I understand why this is, given the past view of the club as a top six contender.

But if you were a manager, reviled by many, who knew that a loss would be like dropping the sword of Damocles on your own throat, wouldn’t you be defensive?

So the question is do Villa play to win and risk a loss, or do they play it safe? What do you want from the team? More attacking? More goals? Or a continuation of the clean sheets?

You can also follow Villa blogger Matthew Turvey at his own site, http://www.astonvillalife.com.