Wanderers 1 ASTON VILLA 0: THERE is a fine dividing line between self-confidence and arrogance and there are times when Michael Ricketts oversteps the mark.

But Wanderers would not have him any other way. Because when he is on a high, the Rocket soars to heights reached only by the genuine goal stars.

That was why Spurs tried to sign him last week, much to Sam Allardyce's annoyance - and not just because Glenn Hoddle failed to match his valuation but because he feared his top scorer, having heard that his Reebok bosses had blocked the move, might not be in the right frame of mind to face Villa.

He need not have worried. Ricketts did not appear to have a care in the world as he stepped up and, with his trademark stutter, calmly stroked home the penalty that got Wanderers' season up and running.

And it wasn't just his second spot-kick success in three games - a carbon copy of the one he knocked in at Fulham - that justified his selection. There was a spring in his step that has been sadly missing for far too long: clever, unselfish knockdowns for his team-mates; menacing runs and power plays to test, torment and intimidate his opponents.

So, as far as Wanderers are concerned, Hoddle and any other suitors can come with all the bids they like.

"He's never once let anything like that affect him," Kevin Nolan said in high praise and vigorous defence of his close pal and team-mate.

"He's unbelievable. He's arrogant if you like but it's a good kind of arrogance. You just know that when he's in front of goal he's not going to miss.

"I've learned so much off Michael. He's only three years older than me but he's great to play with. Being so close to him I know what he feels and I'm really happy he's got another goal.

"Michael lets his football do the talking and his goals say a lot for him. He's put on the pitch to score goals and he's scored two in three so he's not doing so badly. A lot of people were quick to jump on his back last week after the (Charlton) game. I heard them on the radio but he's proved them all wrong again.

"Hopefully he'll just keep banging them away for us."

Allardyce was genuinely concerned that the Spurs affair might re-open the wounds that were patched up last season when he and Ricketts were at cross purposes for a time. Now with the much-maligned transfer window creating a period of calm - at least for the next four months - the manager hopes there will be no more distractions.

"We've asked Michael to forget what's happened in the past and in the near past," he said, "and, now that the window is shut, to concentrate on scoring goals."

That neither Ricketts nor anyone else was able to add to that 55th minute penalty, awarded when Peter Enckelman brought down Henrik Pedersen, is cause for continuing concern. For the second successive game home fans saw chances squandered but, unlike in the Charlton game, they got away with it.

And for that they can thank the amazing reflexes and agility of Jussi Jaaskelainen who was completely wrong-footed when J Lloyd Samuel's shot deflected off Gudni Bergsson ... yet still managed to make the save!

"It was a terrifying moment," Bergsson confessed. "The reflex from Jussi was magnificent. I was one very relieved player when I saw him save it."

For all their missed chances, a Villa equaliser at that point would have been cruel on Wanderers. Having failed to register a point in their first two games and with Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal to come, the pressure was on. But they showed their character with a positive performance - even adjusting to the loss of two key players, Simon Charlton and Paul Warthurst, with first half injuries.

And they boasted the game's outstanding performer in Youri Djorkaeff.

The Maestro might be over the hill as far as the French national team is concerned but he'll do for Wanderers if he can maintain this level of performance. There were times when that extra half-yard he could generate in his younger days might have put the finishing touch to chances he fashioned for himself but he was still involved in all the good moves: the link-up with Ricketts and the pass that sent Pedersen into the box to win the all-important penalty; the sliderule pass inside Steve Staunton that sent Ricketts clear for an angled shot that curled just over Enckelman's bar.

It is not necessarily the forward line Allardyce intended sending out against the Premiership's best. Pedersen only got his chance because Jay Jay Okocha struggled in the opening game at Fulham and has been injured ever since but the Dane is developing an understanding with his fellow forwards which, Allardyce agrees, says a lot for their intelligence. Wanderers have not solved all their problems with one victory, of course. Pedersen, who missed one of the best chances and had the misfortuine to have a goal disallowed for handball by an eagle-eyed referee's assistant, was fortunate that referee Steve Dunn saw contact when Enckelman went down at his feet. And apart from the late scare, they got lucky when Juan Pablo Angel had a 'goal' ruled out for offside - a late and, it must be said, rather dubious decision!

But they worked hard for their win, giving Allardyce the response he was praying for after giving his players "earache" after their miserable start to the season.

"There was a great determination in the side," Bergsson said proudly, relieved that he had gone the distance after spending two weeks on the treatment table. "The gaffer had a few well-chosen words to say to us and we knew we had let ourselves down and needed a good result.

"It was an extremely important result and one which we thoroughly deserved. We could easily have scored two of three goals on top of the penalty but the important thing was that, from a defensive point of view, we kept a clean sheet.

"You will go a long way if you get the organisation right and keep it tight at the back. They have got a potent strikeforce but, apart from what happened late on, they didn't cause us too many problems."