On March 1 of this year, Stoke City completed one of the comebacks of last season as they all but ended Villa’s hopes of finishing fourth and consequently qualifying for the Champions League.

Potters players Ryan Shawcross and Glenn Whelan netted inside the final two minutes of the match at Villa Park to peg the home side back and prevent them from obtaining a much needed morale boost.

The Claret and Blue side that day was one which lacked defensive leadership and, crucially, was devoid of any kind of self-belief.

The team that took to the field against Portsmouth on Saturday, however, was a very different animal. Martin O’Neill’s new look side saw off the Premier League strugglers with goals from James Milner and Gabby Agbonlahor and looked like a strong unit once again.

Admittedly, it helped that they were coming off the back of three consecutive wins and that they are fresh having played few games so far this season but there was a certain confidence around the Villa phalanx on this occasion.

With Richard Dunne and James Collins occupying the centre-back berths, Pompey struggled to win anything in the air.

The two new boys were very assured and they committed themselves to winning every ball. In truth, Paul Hart’s men were poor, with the exception of a 15 minute spell at the start of the second half.

And on such occasions Dunne and Collins should enjoy their work and go about the task at hand with little fuss. They did, and it was all a stark contrast to that fateful game against Stoke last season.

Curtis Davies and Zat Knight, the centre-half pairing that day, could not have looked less comfortable as the game entered the last ten minutes.

The Potters had offered little throughout the game and their performance in the first half the game was laughable. Incidentally, Pompey’s was just as bad on Saturday.

Experience

The difference against Tony Pulis’ men was that Villa simply crumbled under a little sustained pressure.

Davies and Knight were less than dominant in the air and consequently Villa paid the price by blowing the chance to grab two big points.

Dunne and Collins, though, almost appear to be the antithesis of their predecessors.

In fact, the former seems to have a touch of the Martin Laursen about him. The ex-Man City star is so commanding and he was so impressive on debut against the Blues.

His experience is vital for Villa and with 50 international caps to his name he provides vital top level experience.

There is the need for a quick footnote about Dunne’s fellow home summer capture Stephen Warnock. The man signed from Blackburn for around £7.5m was similarly competent in how he went about his business against the Fratton Park men.

Warnock is known to be a superb attacking full-back but he also did well defensively and seems set to have a big influence this season.

He is part of a Villa back four which has now kept two clean sheets in their last two games together and one which appears to have a defiance that was absent for the second half of last season.

Whether or not you choose to compare Dunne to Laursen or not, it cannot be denied that Martin O’Neill has plugged a massive gap left in his defence since January.

There should now be few games like that against Stoke in March as the Villans look to see off lesser opponents at home and wins against Fulham and Pompey are encouraging on that front.