ASTON VILLA stepped up their late surge for a European place as Coventry's miserable run against their west midlands rivals continued in the Premiership yesterday.

Dwight Yorke scored at the start of each half to help Villa win their fifth game in a row at Highfield Road.

The victory means Villa have a real chance of playing in next season's UEFA Cup just weeks after they had a relegation scrap on their hands.

The game was only five minutes old when Alan Wright's long ball caught the Coventry defence napping.

Lee Hendrie turned past Roland Nilsson and, as Steve Ogrizovic tried to close the young midfielder down, he curled the ball towards the far post.

Yorke was unmarked and had the simple task of nodding the chance past Ogrizovic.

Then, just three minutes after the break, the Trinidadian doubled his side's lead with his 13th goal of the season.

Ogrizovic beat out Savo Milosevic's close range drive, but the rebound fell to Julian Joachim, whose cross was hooked into the net by Yorke. Noel Whelan grabbed Coventry's consolation goal.