LIVERPOOL captain Ronnie Whelan grabbed his first goal for the club in over a year to set his side on course for a badly-needed home win against Aston Villa at Anfield last night.

His 66th minute headed goal was a scrambled affair typical of an untidy, mistake-littered match on an ice cold windy Merseyside night.

It came after Ray Houghton crossed from the right and John Aldridge challenged Allan Evans in the Villa area.

Whelan stooped to lob the ball wide of a diving Nigel Spink amidst the confusion. Spink had-survived a couple of remarkable first half blunders, in which the gusty conditions may have played a part.

He fumbled a Houghton corner under the cross bar after 14 minutes, only for Stuart Gray to hack the ball clear off the line. Three minutes later he should easily have cut out Houghton's cross-field pass, but raced out of his area and missed the ball completely, only for Aldridge to slide the wide of an empty net.

Peter Beardsley twice drove narrowly wide and Whelan struck two powerful shots over the Villa bar in the first half, but Spink never tested again until Aldridge flicked Beardsley's cross into his arms four minutes into the second half.

Steve Nicol burst through to head Steve McMahon's cross just over the Villa cross bar on the hour and Spink did well to block Aldridge's close range effort after 77 minutes.

Villa, for their industry, rarely threatened and lost most of their attacking menace when Alan Mclnally went off injured after 58 minutes.

He and Platt had carved out Villa's best chance for Stuart Gray after a McMahon blunder in the 25th minute, but Liverpool Mike Hooper blocked Gray's close-range shot with his legs.

Then Gordon Cowans hooked a dipping shot just over the Liverpool bar after 52 minutes.