Matt Turvey: Things can change very quickly for Aston Villa

Perhaps the biggest issue illustrating the season Aston Villa are having actually has nothing to do with Villa directly, but rather their opponents from last weekend.

West Ham United, a team who came to Villa Park as a team in the bottom three are now in the top half, leading Villa by goal difference.

It is exactly this turnaround - in just two games - that shows how tight the league is, and how little Villa can afford to lose in terms of pace if they are to survive this season.

The above may sound overly dramatic, but Villa face a nervy second half of the season because, as we've seen with West Ham, things can change very quickly.

Getting back to the game against Cardiff City, it could certainly have been different had Villa's number 11, Gabriel Agbonlahor, finished instinctively when the ball was provided to him by Christian Benteke.

That one goal, small as it may well seem in the grander scheme of the whole season, would have restored Villa's top half placement, as well as taking the Midlands club to 30 points - around 10 points from what is usually the watermark for safety.

Whilst a draw isn't enough to create widespread panic or concern, it does increase the pressure on a team who are already suffering from the hallmarks of stress in home games, and because the league is so tight, such pressure is unlikey to disappear any time soon.

Villa's problem, if we were to look at just one, would be the fact that players seem to be so inconsistent from game to game, and from year to year. We've seen players like Andreas Weimann go from unplayable to inexcusable from one week to the next. We've seen Ashley Westwood - a man who was touted as a future Villa captain at the end of last season - go from inexperienced to commanding to indecisive.

In that sense, Villa fans are suffering - it is impossible to retain any kind of sensible or structured attitude if you never know what you are going to get, and that is exactly Villa's problem.

Looking back at the season so far, we've seen the team play away and demolish Liverpool in what was probably Villa's best half this season. However, by the same token, we've also seen lethargic and lacklustre performances that, if taken on their own, would serve to illustrate Villa as little more than one of the league's also-rans.

Some of that criticism may well seem harsh on the manager given his lack of funding over the course of his time at the club, but Villa - like any club - remain a team that will be judged on their performances by fans, not the health of the spreadsheets that the club's accountants maintain.

For Villa, a team without a transfer window to change things, a spark is needed. Whether it is the return of Jores Okore, a continued presence of Ron Vlaar, or a return to the lethal form demonstrated by Benteke, it is clear that something - anything - has to ignite a return to form if Villa are to avoid more heartache.

So, as we approach Valentine's Day, many fans will be hoping to avoid more heartache from the club. Villa aren't in danger just yet, but to suggest they are safe would be foolish with less than six points between them and the bottom three.

How their season will be remembered will be a result of the next five or six games. Win the majority, and Premier League survival will be all but guaranteed. Lose the majority and it will be a nervous end to yet another campaign.