This Saturday at three O'clock, Villa will kick-off their pre-season with a fixture against Championship outfit Peterborough United at the less-than glamorous London Road Stadium.

To many a fan it is sure to feel like just yesterday that Martin O'Neill's men finished their rollercoaster campaign with a scrappy, yet enjoyable, 1-0 victory over Newcastle United - now also of the Championship.

However, 47 days have elapsed since that fateful day for the Geordie hordes, and still the first new signing of the summer has yet to be ushered through the doors at Villa Park.

O'Neill is certainly cutting it fine to increase and, more importantly, improve his squad.

Many optimists will observe that there are still plenty of days remaining until the end of the current transfer window. But with every passing day, the ray of light that shines through that opening becomes ever thinner.

Many Premier League clubs - well pretty much all of them with the exception of Villa - have already made their first purchase.

The top four have all already spent big. Champions Manchester United have brought in Antonio Valencia, Michael Owen and French wing wizard Gabriel Obertan.

Liverpool have signed Glen Johnson for a whopping £17m fee from Portsmouth (whopping because he surely isn't worth that much) and Chelsea have splashed the cash on Russian star Yuri Zhirkov as well as adding Daniel Sturridge and Ross Turnbull.

Astute

Villa's one time fourth place rivals Arsenal have already grabbed Belgian stalwart Thomas Vermaelen from O'Neill's grasp, with the defender costing an estimated £10m.

Of the other Premier League sides, Manchester City have inevitably spent big and there are more new signings on the way with but the less said about their acquisitions the better.

Even Wolves and Birmingham have spent fairly big by their standards. Of course, both of Villa's rivals need new arrivals in order to compete in the top division but some of their signings have been very astute.

Alex Mcleish's capture of Cardiff centre back Roger Johnson could prove a masterstroke and Mick McCarthy's Doyle deal is not is exaclty a lemon either.

Now it is O'Neill's turn. The fans have waited long enough. Signs and signatures of improvement need to be seen.

Panic buys are not what any fan wants. But the closer we get to August 31, the more likely it is that supporters will demand rush purchases.

Villa's squad is - to say the least - threadbare. Many players are simply not of an elite standard. Marlon Harewood, Isiaah Osbourne and Moustapha Salifou are just a few names that instantly spring to mind.

But - and this has not been the case in the past - there cannot be a cull of these squad members until reinforcements have been brought in.

Arrival

There have been so many so-called signing certainties thrown into the Villa Park transfer hat, so many headlines stating 'deal almost done'. Unfortunately there have been so many red-herrings and no concrete deals.

The only new arrival has been that of young Courtney Cameron from Northampton Town. He may one day prove to be a Premier League star but right now Villa need actual ones to bolster their squad.

O'Neill and his Chairman Randy Lerner must know that they are in danger of seeing the summer slip by and the season slip away.

Tottenham,, Everton and Man City will undoubtedly all be vying for the top six during this campaign. The top four currently look out of sight once again.

But, with some shrewd signings and some risk taking, Villa can again challenge Arsene Wenger's Arsenal and topple Mark Hughes' mega-rich City.

Gareth Barry could be left regretting his move rather than casting a wry smile over what he has walked away from.

But, action has to be taken now because as the transfer window continues to close gradually, day by day the price of each and every player rise ever so slightly.

By Saturday and the first kick of that ball at Peterborough, fans will hope that the flash of the photographer's camera is not the only glimmer of light around the stadium ahead of the new campaign.