One more day and life gets back to normal. Breath in, relax. Before life begins again however, we have to look at the game tomorrow and in case you didn't know, we can confirm the game is on, the club told us so yesterday, in fantastic and comically appropriate 90's Dom Joly style.
So, if you are going to the match, you will be looking for retribution after the opening day defeat, at home, to Wigan and if you are not, you are going to be quite interested to see how this match turns out after two fairly poor recent league displays that has seen us drop to sixth place.
Wigan Weather Forecast
Before we get to the match, if you are going tomorrow, you are going to want to know that the forecast is sunny and a at worst -5°C, but from my experience of Wigan, it can feel like five below on a normal day if the wind picks up, so bring a hat and a warm Aston Villa shirt.
So, weather wise, it isn't so bad and leaving the stadium with three points and fourth place reclaimed, it will be worth it. You see, despite losing to Arsenal and Liverpool recently, we are only two points off fourth and if we win tomorrow we would reclaim fourth. I am however not convinced we will and I am putting this match down as one of the important ones this season.
On the other hand, if things were to go horrible, we could drop to seventh and Liverpool don't play until Sunday - so this match is actually quite important and could do a lot for our confidence. You see, there is no shame losing to Arsenal or Liverpool and you can say there is no shame in losing to Wigan on the opening day, you can almost let that one slip.
But, losing tomorrow would be a little hard to swallow, because, well, it's Wigan. They are currently fifth from bottom, but would, if the three teams below them all played and drew tonight, be second from bottom and while we could dress it up any way we wanted to, like when we lost to Newcastle, who I think were bottom at the time, but still Newcastle, with quality players, the league table doesn't lie.
We simply have to win tomorrow. We need to end the day in fourth place and put pressure on the likes of Manchester City, Spurs and Liverpool and for the record, if you offered Martin O'Neill a point now, he wouldn't take it. Would you?
Early Team News
We don't have much, other than James Milner is available and ready to play, so I'm going to make my suggestions instead. With Milner back, I'm hoping this will mean the manager puts him in the middle alongside Reo-Coker with Downing and Webcam on either side. I say Reo-Coker, because this is a good match to start using your squad.
Reo-Coker has had plenty of rest recently, Petrov is in desperate need of it and while the pair might have some personal issues, neither is bigger than Aston Villa and this just seems right for every reason.
My other suggestion would be to leave Gabby on the bench and play Delfouneso. Gabby is also looking tired and if he isn't rested soon, he isn't going to get better. Delfouneso scored against Blackburn in the FA Cup and Wigan would be a good team to start him against as they've let in 44 goals this season, an average of 2.3 goals a game.
In fact, I'd say there was no better team to let him start against and if Gabby doesn't get to recharge his batters soon, well, we all know what will happen, we saw it last season.
Weekend Football Betting
Wigan are 21/10 at the moment while we are 13/10. I quite like that price for us as I am confident. Actually scrap that, I'm not 100%, but I know we do have it in us and I know we should and need to win, so 13/10 is a good price. I might have some of it, but if I do, I'll have it with Fulham and Chelsea also and if I put my tenner on it, I'll get back £50 with Paddypower right now.
Wigan Prediction
This is hard. I have to predict we will win and I think we will, but it is a tough one to predict. You know, we should leave Wigan after scoring three or four, we really should, but a part of me is worried and I don't know why.
I'm going to predict a win but I am also slightly nervous and I hope O'Neill starts to use his squad, we will let you know tomorrow.
Wigan v Aston Villa Live
We will be running the usual mish mash of link dumping, Twitter updates and everything else we usually do on a match day, from about lunch time tomorrow. Until then and with the transfer window opening in three weeks, if you've heard any rumours, please let us know below and also, while you are at it, a prediction wouldn't go amiss.