STRESS levels were rising fast at Villa Park on Saturday but, while some of Stan Collymore's colleagues were left considering a course of treatment, Jack Walker won't be booking into any expensive clinics, writes PETER WHITE.

Blackburn Rovers have not always got it right in recent years but the Ewood benefactor should now be one man sleeping comfortably at night.

The first away win of the season duly arrived against Rovers' 'favourite' opposition Aston Villa - 283 days since their last League success on tour, at Chelsea last April.

It could have gone either way but it was Rovers who finished on Easy Street, enjoying a welcome champagne moment after an away-day diet which has been too heavily laden with bitter.

Inside the Villa Park Press lounge, Roy Hodgson could be seen pontificating on Sky TV, while outside on the pitch John Filan was justifying Brian Kidd's loyalty to his keeper.

And 'happy-talking' Chris Sutton was proving a point to another former manager, re-incarnated as the striker who is worth two Dion Dublins, despite the latter's hold on an England squad place.

The crowd gasped when news from down the road in Nottingham filtered through but they had already had their share of shocks seeing title-challengers Villa upstaged by some brilliant counter-attack-

ing.

Send for the stress counsellors!

There are still going to be bad days but I have a gut feeling that the rest of the season is going to be a lot happier than what we saw in 1998.

Kidd has helped bring about a huge improvement defensively, despite key absentees, and his buying and then tactics following recent dismissals have been impressive.

On Saturday, the manager's deployment of three strikers, Matt Jansen playing behind two big but mobile front men in Sutton and Ashley Ward, proved spot on. I was excited as soon as I saw the team sheet.

Above all, there is the spirit in the camp and a ruthless edge starting to show.

David Dunn's inexperience cost him an ear-bashing late on and he will learn from that because he has the right attitude. But it could not spoil a wonderful day for the teenage midfielder who displayed all his youthful promise in a marvellous performance.

At the other end of the age scale, Filan, 29 last week, is now starting to reap the benefits of a relative lifetime in the game. Last season, he was outstanding as Rovers won 4-0 at Villa Park. On Saturday, his performance was no less accomplished and provided perfect testimony as to why Tim Flowers is warming the bench.

And a deserved word of praise too for a referee who managed to complete a hard-fought Premiership clash, in difficult windswept conditions on a poor surface, without producing a card of any colour. A few of his colleagues should take note.

Luck plays such an important part in football, illustrated by the fact that Rovers scored first in a game where the opening exchanges suggested whichever side broke the deadlock would be in the driving seat.

There had been only one real early scare for Rovers when Filan, who had earlier produced a prodigious leap to take a cross, foiled Julian Joachim in the 21st minute.

Jansen had been prominent but it was midfielder Dunn who prompted the opener.

He picked up a poor clearance, ran at ex-Rover Alan Wright and pinged in a dangerous cross from the right.

Gareth Southgate, on the edge of his six-yard box and facing goal, succeeded only in flicking a header into his own net.

It was a gift.

Villa boss John Gregory summed it up when he said: "The goal was a bit of a freak. He has headed 3000 of them away this season."

Both teams threatened more but Villa would understandably have been miffed at trailing when they had dominated possession. Yet most of their goal attempts were tame.

Dublin wasted another opportunity just after half time but you could never discount the Rovers threat and, inside a matter of minutes, they wrapped up the game.

Sutton harassed Riccardo Scimeca on Rovers' left in the 62nd minute, won the ball and got to the bye-line. He pulled it back precisely for Ashley Ward, steaming in, to strike a fierce shot past the helpless keeper.

Two minutes later, the travelling fans were in wonderland as Jansen nicked the ball and measured a left-wing cross. Sutton challenged, it fell towards the edge of the box and Dunn volleyed it first time back into the far bottom corner.

Joachim's pace took him clear in the 69th minute and a superb finish brought Rovers back down to earth.

But Filan was not to be beaten again, doing brilliantly to save an 82nd-minute Alan Thompson free kick and the follow-up from Ian Taylor.

Jansen could easily have had a goal but, with Villa's passing in the second half ragged, Rovers did not have too much trouble holding their advantage.

Deep into injury time, Simon Grayson headed over when he should have scored and you knew the day was to belong to Rovers not Villa.

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