DALIAN Atkinson plundered his tenth goal of the season and dropped another hint to watching England manager Graham Taylor as Villa defeated Alex Ferguson's side for the second time in ten days.

Atkinson piled on the misery for United, who have won only one of their last eleven games, in front of 39,063 fans the biggest crowd for a match in England this season.

Villa are now unbeaten in 12 matches and many pundits must be wishing they had taken advantage of pre-season odds of 50-1 for the title.

But the problems are mounting for United who were knocked out of the Coca-Cola Cup by the Midlanders.

Ferguson's side had as much of the game territorially and forced 13 corners but they failed to bring a worthwhile save out of Villa goalkeeper Nigel Spink.

It was Villa who had the cutting edge and Atkinson and Dean Saunders have now scored 18 goals between them since they joined forces 12 matches ago.

The decisive goal came after 12 minutes and, fittingly, it was created by Steve Staunton who revelled in his midfield role on the left flank and was Villa's man of the match.

Staunton burst down the middle before releasing Atkinson who coolly clipped the ball wide of advancing United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel.

Saunders is already convinced that Atkinson will get his England chance sooner rather than later and the former Sheffield Wednesday player was a constant threat throughout.

Villa had plenty of opportunities to kill off United but Schmeichel produced two stunning saves to keep out a Gary Parker volley and a Shaun Teale header.

Paul Ince wasted United's best chance in the 57th minute when he fired over the bar from 12 yards.

Ferguson hinted after the game that his side's failure in front of goal may force him into the marketplace. "We may have to do something about it. I believe there is money available and I would expect support if I want to buy. But as we all know the options are not great."

Ferguson will look for a ready-made replacement for injured Dion Dublin rather than pressing Norwegian trialist Tore Dahlum into the side.

Added Ferguson: "He can strike a ball well with either foot. but might take two or three months to develop.

"The bonus from today's game was in giving Bryan Robson and Lee Sharpe a game. We were unfortunate to be behind at half-time."

Villa manager Ron Atkinson said: "We were the better side and well deserved our win. We were solid in defence and we always looked capable of scoring when breaking."