4-2

The Birmingham Fail change their tune.

D-DAY at Villa Park overflowed with the promise of !regular victory parades for Holte Enders to savour.

Only time will tell whether that promise will be translated into the ultimate glory of a Premier League championship. But in Colonel Saunders, Villa appear to have recruited the man to provide their missing ingredient.

The organisation of Ron Atkinson's troops has rarely been in question. Now they have the inspiration of Dean Saunders to transform their battle plans into crucial conquests.

Saunders' sensational home debut earned the sort of terrace accolades once offered to the likes of Andy Gray, Peter Withe and Gary Shaw.

It’s been a long time since the fans have struck such an instant rapport with a Villa player, for even David Platt was a technician to admire rather than a cavalier to make you tingle with excitement.

On the day Saunders scored twice, hit the woodwork and helped to engineer one of Villa's other goals, though, the £2.3 million marksman went out of his way to praise the contributions of his new colleagues.

All the headlines are rightfully his, but the Welsh wizard knows that consistency and team work are equally important if Villa are to attain the ratio of success enjoyed by his former club.

We shouldn’t get carried away just yet, though, for this result was achieved against Liverpool’s shadow squad.

And even a halt strength version of the Merseysiders managed to score twice, squander arguably the most inviting chance in football history and force Nigel Spink into a brave second half save.

It is also worth remembering that Liverpool at their peak showed barely any sign of weakness, which is something Villa cannot yet boast.

For in the match when their striking problem was resolved, there was suddenly uncertainty at the back.

The normally reliable Shaun Teale was guilty of two first half blunders, one of which preceded an unbelievable Ronnie Rosenthal miss, the other resulting in an opening goal for former Villa favourite Mark Walters.

Villa are also some way short of the patience which was a hallmark of Liverpool at their finest.

That was never more evident than during an unconvincing first 45 minutes in which Liverpool kept things simple while Villa strained to make an incisive pass at every opportunity.

But this the time to look for faults.

In an age when spectators have become conditioned to accept the ordinary, the nation’s biggest crowd of the season were treated to a generous slice of compelling entertainment.

All the early frustrations evaporated when Saunders ran in the equaliser after a textbook Garry Parker-Steve Froggatt link-up on the stroke of half-time, and Villa were irresistible once the curtain had gone up on act two.

At a time when it's increasingly convenient to watch football from the comfort of an armchair, this rousing encounter was the sort of fare to boost business at the Box Office.