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*James and Di Canio shake on it*

When Paulo Di Canio and David James called time on their public spat with a hug and a handshake at the final whistle, there was no doubt who was the more satisfied player. Not only did James twice stand firm when confronted by the fired-up Italian, but Villa withstood several other close shaves for a hard-earned point that keeps these teams locked together in the Premiership table.

If Villa can land the Celta Vigo striker Benni McCarthy to provide much-needed support alongside Dion Dublin, and when West Ham shake off the effects of injuries, illness and suspension, both look good to challenge for European places in the new year.

Both camps pronounced themselves satisfied with the outcome. ‘We had some great opportunities to have finished them off in the first half,’ said the West Ham manager, Harry Redknapp, delighted with a sweet strike from 19-year-old Michael Carrick and another performance oozing class from Frederic Kanoute.

‘We are certainly short of bodies, but if you had offered us five wins and two draws in seven games we would have taken them.’ Steve Harrison, the Villa first team coach, was enthusiastic about the mature way Lee Hendrie went about his work and by how James handled the pressure.

‘It was a good, honest, whole-hearted performance by us. We couldn’t have asked for any more. At the moment we are just grinding out results, but there is plenty of potential there and we can certainly get better,’ he said.

The war of words between Di Canio and James gave this encounter an extra dimension. Di Canio was clearly up for it and after Carrick struck his first goal of the season from 22 yards with the ball going in off a post, he had the perfect opportunity to put his side in a commanding position. Kanoute found him in space slightly to the left of goal, but Di Canio’s volley finished up in the crowd.

Later Kanoute and Trevor Sinclair combined to free Di Canio, but James was off his line in an instant to smother the shot. In between, Kanoute himself, skipper Steve Lomas and Kaba Diawara had all wasted chances. Diawara’s was the easiest of them all, failing to beat James from six yards after Di Canio’s cross was headed back from a far post position by Sinclair. That is to take nothing away from James’s block. ‘David was top quality today,’ said Harrison. ‘He made some excellent saves.’

West Ham paid the price for those misses when Hendrie, who had twice gone close from distance, took a pass from David Ginola just outside the penalty box and found the net with a skimming drive off both uprights. West Ham came out for the second half on full throttle, but the longer the game went on the more assured Villa became and Harrison added: ‘We had them on the back foot for the last 15 minutes.’

Apart from his assist for the goal, Ginola was largely on the periphery of the game in his first start in a match in London since leaving Tottenham in the summer. The frustration was evident - even though Harrison believes he will adjust to Villa’s style - none more so than when he was shown a yellow card for his challenge on Rigobert Song. Ginola had to be restrained by Dublin from remonstrating more than he did with the referee, Mike Riley.