Nigel Reo-Coker could yet prove to be a key man in Villa's pursuit of success this season.
The tenacious midfielder played a full 90 minutes for the reserves against Arsenal last night after recovering from a long-term injury.
And his combative skills could come in handy as this campaign draws to its conclusion.
Reo-Coker is capable of bringing a steel to the Villa midfield which no other player at the club match.
The likes of Steve Sidwell and Fabian Delph are much of a muchness and they have shown little sign of dropping the desired drive into Martin O'Neill's team.
Both Stiliyan Petrov and James Milner are more at home creating goals than preventing them and at times they are over-run in the centre.
And so O'Neill has the chance to make a season-winning move.
The Villa boss now has an option to return to a 4-5-1 formation when things are geting tough for his team.
He would probably have loved to have Reo-Coker in his ranks for the trip to Chelsea, as Sidwell and co were thrown all over Stamford Bridge by a talented Blues team.
The 7-1 scoreline reflected the dominance of Carlo Ancelotti's men in the midfield department and four goals for Frank Lampard illustrated just what needs to be sorted ahead of Saturday's FA Cup semi-final.
Villa must stem the flow at Wembley to have any chance of catching the west London side cold.
And, as well as John Carew has been playing lately, it could just be one of those occasions when Gabby Agbonlahor must go it alone.
Chelsea, if they have one weakness, are not the best going back towards their own goal at speed.
Villa have raw pace at their disposal but with Carew in the line-up everything goes just a little slower.
So, bringing in an extra midfield man in place of the big striker could be the way forward. That is not to say that Carew hasn't been brilliant of late...he has.
But five in midfield could solve a whole host of problems and if O'Neill trusts Reo-Coker's fitness then it should be the former West Ham man who is drafted in.
His dynamism can keep Lampard in check and let Milner and Petrov get on with what they do best - assisting Agbonlahor.
So, will Reo get a go? Let's hope so!