That was painful, and then a little less painful, to watch. Villa's Sunday afternoon outing at QPR ended badly when Richard Dunne - minutes after justly being named as man of the match - scored the most unfortunate of own goals to give the home side an injury time equaliser and a point.

The manner of the goal will have hurt Villa as well as the timing; three minutes into the allocated five minutes of time added on. But while the second half ended with a nasty sting in the tail, the preceding 45 minutes at least provided a few clues as to how this Villa can move forward.

From a Villa point of view, the first half was awful. Really awful. The phrase 'Sunday League' is regularly and liberally applied all too casually when describing a below-par team performance. It's a derogatory term and often misused.

Not for Villa, and not for the first 45 minutes at Loftus Road. QPR started brightly and Villa spent most of that first period chasing shadows, closing down a vibrant Rangers and lumping the ball forward for Gabby Agbonlahor, ever willing, to chase. Sunday League? It bore a very close resemblance - hit it long and hope the quick guy up front makes something out of nothing. It was ugly and desperate.

Barry Bannan provided the only moment of inspiration, with a wickedly curling free-kick that forced Paddy Kenny into an impressive save. Maybe that spurred Villa on, or maybe Alex McLeish used the half-time interval to remind his players how to play the game. The second half saw a brighter, more cohesive Villa. Playing a style that, with the players available, has to be the only way forward.

Villa's midfield was weak on strength, on height, on physical prowess. Little point, then, in toughing it out with QPR; better to use the ball quickly and intelligently. With four genuine footballers in the midfield - Delph, Petrov, Ireland and Bannan - Villa settled into the game, playing short passes, creating triangles, plenty of movement. Both full-backs, Stephen Warnock in particular, pushed forward and provided width and support.

The tide turned. Villa's penalty was questionable, though it was as a result of one of several free-flowing moves in the second half. Bannan, who'd done more than anyone to get hold of the ball and the game, deserved credit for tucking the spot kick away, despite having Anton Ferdinand scowling in his face as he placed the ball and composed himself.

Villa's play for the next half an hour was encouraging. Neat and thoughtful, if lacking the final killer instinct that a fit Darren Bent could have provided. Charles N'Zogbia still looks slightly off the pace to me, and seemed hesitant on a couple of occasions when he had the opportunity to run at a defender.

Brightest individual player, I thought - looking away from the resolute defence - was Bannan, who is gradually cementing his place in the starting X1. My reservation about him remains his positioning. Again, McLeish used him in a wide role, on the right side of the attacking three, while Ireland formed part of the three-man midfield.

The other way around would have been preferable, with Bannan in the thick of things and Ireland pushing forward and supporting Agbonlahor and N'Zogbia. My ideal scenario, however, would have been to start with Marc Albrighton wide on the right and make the choice between Bannan and Ireland for the playmaking role in the centre of midfield. Albrighton made a pretty brief substitute appearance on Sunday, but even then, I thought Villa had a nice shape about them once the young winger was involved.

When the injury list dissipates and McLeish again has options, I can only see room for either Ireland or Bannan in his starting line-up; Bannan has the stronger claim right now, though it's heartening to see Ireland being brought back into the fold.

First things first, however, and the immediate priority for McLeish and Villa is to start games off in the right way, rather than the back foot. We've got away with sluggish starts twice already this season - at Everton and QPR - and good fortune only lasts so long.

Let's hope lessons have been learnt. QPR could have been out of sight after 30 minutes at Loftus Road, and Villa can ill afford to take so long to get going.