JAMES Collins is convinced he and Richard Dunne can banish Villa’s defensive wobbles next season and reform a virtually impenetrable partnership.

Collins took great confidence from the way the claret and blues’ backline frustrated Arsenal in Sunday’s 2-1 victory at the Emirates, despite conceding a late goal.

And the Welsh centre-half believes he and Dunne can recover from a season in which Villa have conceded 59 goals compared to 39 last term.

“I’ll admit there’s been a few wobbles,” said Collins.

“As a team and individually we know we’ve made errors that we didn’t last year that we need to cut out. I think me and Richard have shown we still can do it, we are still good defenders.

“We enjoy playing with each other so we’re looking forward to next season.”

Collins believes Sunday’s long backs-to-the-wall periods of defending against the Gunners proved that he, Dunne, goalkeeper Brad Friedel and full-backs Kyle Walker and Luke Young can get back to their best.

‘‘I think it’s a sign of how well we can defend,” he said.

“You saw it last season. I know we haven’t been at the levels we were last year but I think we showed signs of it again on Sunday.