IT was not by accident that Gary Megson let slip earlier this week that his former Aston Villa contingent had failed to perform in their last two games against their old club.

The wily Wanderers boss was fishing for a reaction — and judging by the performances he gleaned from Gavin McCann, Gary Cahill and Jlloyd Samuel, they fell for his plan hook, line and sinker.

In fact, it’s just a shame there aren’t a few former Wiganers in the squad with next week in mind as well.

Whether he meant the reverse psychology or not, the manager will now have to pull out all the stops to milk as much gusto as he can from his players for the final four games.

Barring a complete catastrophe, the Whites are safe for another year, even if the unwritten code of the Premier League dictates that they can’t shout that from the rooftops just yet.

Quite aside from a handy point gained at the Reebok on Saturday, the desire shown in the second half was enough to suggest that if the worst was to happen — another victory could easily be plucked from the barrel in the remaining games against Wigan, Sunderland, Hull and Manchester City.

And nowhere was that more evident than in the triumvirate of ex-Villains, who responded remarkably to Megson’s call to raise their game against the club who had cast them out.

“I thought they all did well,” the manager said. “We’d mentioned it before the game that Villa chose to let them go and that, until now, it had looked like a good decision because they had beaten us 4-0 and 4-2 in the last two games.

“I wouldn’t have thought when you play against your old team that you need much firing up, but we do say anything to try and get us that extra little bit and I think they can be really pleased with their performance.”

Rumours had circulated throughout the game that England boss Fabio Capello was watching from the stands, although he could hardly be blamed for taking an early cut with what was on offer at times.

One intriguing heavyweight match-up that might have kept him from heading back down the motorway early was between Kevin Davies and Emile Heskey — two of the strikers he might well call upon to strike fear into the little Andorrans when the World Cup qualifiers get back up and running in June.

If this was a boxing match, then the man from the white corner would have won by TKO after a few rounds.

While Davies bossed the twin towers of Curtis Davies and Zat Knight, and another England hopeful, Nicky Shorey, Heskey waltzed around unnoticed until being withdrawn 14 minutes towards the end.

The Wanderers skipper won so many headers it was embarrassing although, frustratingly, Johan Elmander — his strike partner for the second half — was unable to sniff out a single one of them.

It wasn’t just in the air that Davies excelled either. His deft pass created the first real opportunity of the afternoon, freeing Matty Taylor down the left who put a simple chance on a plate for Fabrice Muamba. Not for the first time this season, the young midfielder got himself in a total mess when trying to fire home.

Villa looked like a side thinking about their holidays. For the most, Wanderers coped at a canter with the hefty strike force of Heskey and John Carew.

The game had been a non-event, so it was perhaps fitting that Ashley Young’s opening goal owed more to fortune than any great skill on his part.

The England winger cut in from the left to cross right-footed towards Carew in the box, and while the big target man gestured toward the ball, it dropped over his shoulder before flicking off the far post and into the net.

It was hard luck for Megson’s men but they were able to raise their game enough in the second period to take a share of the spoils.

Predictably, Davies was involved in the equaliser, flicking on a header toward Andy O’Brien in the six-yard box who, in turn, fed Tamir Cohen who blasted home a volley from close range.

It was a nice finish from the Israel international, who was more restrained and composed than we had become accustomed to in his brief first-team career to date.

Villa continued to labour on in second gear, showing little of the razor-sharp counter-attacking we had seen in the reverse fixture in December.

Gary Cahill later put that down to the difference in pitch sizes, although the fact they are nailed on for a Europa Cup spot with little else to play for was perhaps a more telling factor.

The game was there to be won for Wanderers, but aside from a Gavin McCann volley that whizzed over the bar and a few half-hearted penalty shouts, they seemed to run out of steam in the final 15 minutes.

It would have been calamitous if Carew had managed to beat Jussi Jaaskelainen with a speculative late header.

Megson had Ariza Makukula, Ebi Smolarek and Riga as attacking options on the bench but the fact that only young Chris Basham was thrown into the mix, replacing the tiring Cohen, perhaps speaks volumes for what the manager plans to do in the summer.

Mathematically at least, it might be another couple of weeks before Wanderers can join Villa on the beach. But on this performance, they certainly will.