DRAWING, drawing Villa.

Alex McLeish’s claret and blues have continually made a point of sharing this season.

So perhaps there should be a shared understanding between the anxious Villa Park faithful and the equally frustrated new boss over this series of stalemates.

Namely, if McLeish’s team strive to stop drawing so many of these early matches, the fans will stop drawing so many premature conclusions.

Remarkably, after just five Premier League games, albeit five with just one win, four draws and no defeats, so much is already being read into how Villa’s season under McLeish will pan out.

From the “we’re Blues in disguise” relegation doom-mongers concerned at a Birmingham-esque lack of a cutting edge to the “we are unbeatable” eternal optimists encouraged by the newfound defensive solidity, if Villa won points for early-season assumptions then they would be top of the league rather than a respectable sixth in the table.

There’s no denying that losing the shots-on-target count 13-3 at home to Newcastle is among the causes for concern.

But it doesn’t necessarily follow that just because McLeish’s men have failed to make the most, points-wise, of a kind-looking start to the fixture list against the top flight’s lesser lights that they will find themselves in trouble when the tougher tests come in early winter.

Villa fans should know by now that nothing in football is a Given. Nothing except the near guarantee that a certain evergreen Irish international goalkeeper will make a match-saving stop or two.

Were it not for the sentimental milestone of a 200th start for Gabby Agbonlahor then Shay Given would have had the sponsors’ champagne safely in his grasp after a series of top-class saves.

As it was, Agbonlahor bagged the man-of-the-match award as clinically as he bagged the opening goal of the game, his third of the season and 52nd in the Premier League as he chases Dwight Yorke’s club record of 60.

Restored to a central advanced position in McLeish’s switch to 4-4-2, he might have had another at the start of the second half when he span past Danny Simpson, only to fire just past the post.

For his goal, the Brummie striker swivelled to connect with Barry Bannan’s cross into the box and when his first attempt was blocked by Fabricio Coloccini he reacted quickly to slot the loose ball past Newcastle goalkeeper Tim Krul from eight yards out.