I don’t think there can be many football fans who failed to be impressed by Aston Villa last night.

The 6-4 win over Blackburn at Villa Park ensured a 7-4 aggregate win for Martin O'Neill's team and they looked really powerful going forward.

Villa did have a calamitous 30-minute defensive show which made it seem Blackburn could progress but Ashley Young, James Milner and Gabriel Agbonlahor were all very exciting and look like they could trouble any defence on their day.

Of course, O'Neill's side are going to face either Man City or Man United in the final and so will probably go into the game as underdogs. But I have the tendency to agree with this expert from Betfair Football in thinking Villa could win the Carling Cup.

The pace of their forwards suggest they can cause problems for any defence, even the expensively-assembled one of City or United, if they want to. And with the problems being experienced at the back in recent games by both Manchester teams, they may be worried about facing the Villa threesome.

O'Neill deserves some success for the work he has done with Villa and I really think it could come at Wembley in the final of this competition.