By Paul Brown

It was a real case of Jekyll and Hyde as Villa showed class and composure after the break to earn a creditable 1-1 draw - following an opening 45 minutes to forget.

In fact, the literary double act were just about the only famous faces missing from the away end - littered with the likes of Bananaman, the Pink Panther and Scooby Doo.

The claret and blue army dressed for the occasion but their heroes laboured in the first half as they struggled to find any rhythm.

The home side, faced with the very real threat of relegation, played with the gusto and effort of a team who knew exactly what was needed. There may not have been many chances in the half but they made their best one pay - Tuncay expertly scissor-kicking the ball past Brad Friedel.

It was that fantastic goal that separated the teams at the interval - but it was Martin O'Neill's men who turned on the class after the break. It was a return of the high octane, thrill-a-minute Villa as they charged forward with desire and dynamism.

John Carew brought the scores level just before the hour mark as he seized on poor defending from Gareth Southgate's side to fire home past a sea of red and white shirts.

Villa could - and should - have won it in the closing stages - Gabby Agbonlahor twice being denied when well-placed. First, the speed demon saw a header cleared off the line before Brad Jones saved at his feet.

By Paul Brown

FT - It's all over - much better second half from Villa and deserved all three points in the end.

90mins - Gareth Barry's right-foot cross evades everyone - so, so close to the winner.

90mins - James Milner fires high over the bar when in the box. Middlesbrough are all over the place.

86mins - It's Villa - not Middlesbrough - who are going for the throat. MON's men want all three points.

82mins - Tuncay heads just over - so close for the home side.

79mins - It's Gabby Agbonlahor again - racing through on goal - but Brad Jones makes a fine save with his legs.

74mins - Gabby Agbonlahor's header is cleared off the line - so close to 2-1 for MON's men.

72mins - SUBSTITUTION - Josh Walker for Gary O'Neil

71mins - SUBSTITUTION - Nigel Reo-Coker for Ashley Young

71mins - Ashley Young leaves the field looking bruised and battered.

66mins - Villa are all over Middlesbrough. 'We'll Meet Again' echoes around the ground as the claret and blue supporters predict Middlesbrough's demise.

65mins - Chants of 'Sali, Salifou' reverberate around The Riverside. He may not be in the squad but he's still a popular figure with the fans.

62mins - Ashley Young is clean through - following a great ball from Carlos Cuellar - but the PFA Young Player of the Year dribbles the ball too close to Brad Jones, who claims at the second time of asking.

61mins - More great play from Villa, involving Gareth Barry and Ashley Young. The wing wizard twists and turns in the box but his final shot is too close to Brad Jones as the Boro goalkeeper claims.

58mins - The claret and blue fans are doing the congo.

57mins - GOAL - Mayhem in the Boro penalty area. Marlon King fails to clear and John Carew turns and powers his shot past Brad Jones in the home goal. Get in!

56mins - Much more sustained pressure from Villa - with GB leading the charge.

56mins - BOOKING - James Milner (foul)

56mins - BOOKING - Gareth Barry (dissent)

52mins - Gabby Agbonlahor races through but goalkeeper Brad Jones comes out and heads clear - he couldn't handle it otherwide he'd have been off.

51mins - Villa really look up for it at the start of the second half. GB has been good throughout.

48mins - FC - Ellie Perrins: "Villa to come back and win 2-1. John Carew to bag the winner." Lovely to hear from you Ellie, I hope you're right.

46mins - Villa are now attacking the end where their own fans are - hopefully a good omen.

HT - Boro are good value for their lead at the break - I'm backing a class second half from the boys in claret and blue.

45mins - Great move from Villa - real quality - involving Zat Knight, Carlos Cuellar and Stan Petrov but Emile Heskey's final ball into the box is high and handsome.

44mins - MON will be expecting much better in the second half.

40mins - Brad Friedel makes a superb save from another quality Justin Hoyte strike from just outside the area.

39mins - Boos ring around the ground as Mike Riley waves away penalty protests for the home side. They felt Marvin Emnes was fouled by John Carew in the box.

37mins - Carlos Cuellar heads over Justin Hoyte's fierce right-foot drive from just outside the area.

36mins - Bit more enterprise from Villa as they force a couple of corners - but they can't create a chance.

30mins - Other than the goal, not much in the way of chances for either side so far.

26mins - News coming from Goodison Park - Everton 0-1 West Ham.

25mins - Well, Boro's best player is off - can we capitalise on it?

23mins - SUBSTITUTION - Marlon King for Stewart Downing

22mins - The left-sided Boro star is on the deck again and it looks like he may have to be replaced.

21mins - Villa haven't managed to get into their stride yet - but plenty of time to turn this one around.

20mins - Stewart Downing receives a round of applause after returning to the action.

18mins - Stewart Downing receives lengthy treatment after a tackle from Stiliyan Petrov.

15mins - Villa's giant inflatable ball is taken away by the Boro stewards - 'give us our ball back' chant the claret and blue army.

14mins - GOAL - Tuncay opens the scoring for the home side with a spectacular overhead kick, after Stewart Downing's right-foot drive is charged down by James Milner.

10mins - Gabby Agbonlahor has Villa's first chance but he fires straight at Brad Jones when well-placed on the left hand side of the box.

8mins - MON alert - he's up and looking very pensive. Former Villa skipper Gareth Southgate is marshalling his troops from the touchline too.

7mins - We've got George from Rainbow in the away end too.

5mins - Boro have made a lively start - but you'd expect that of a team which needs to win, at the very least, to have a chance of Barclays Premier League survival.

2mins - Dangermouse and Baron Greenback have obviously joined forces - they're sitting next to each other in the away end. No Penfold though.

1mins - We're off - and the Martin Laursen chants start immediately. GB has defensive work early on, clearing after Stewart Downing bombs down the left.

14.56pm - The Villa fans are going bananas - literally. Many of them are dressed as bananas. Don't really know what else to say. I've spotted the Pink Panther and Scooby Doo too. There's a few Danish flags in there - nice touch. Oh and the Gingerbread Man and Fred Flintstone. Quality effort from the claret and blue troops.

14.54pm - It's very quiet around The Riverside this afternoon - there must be a lot of concern about the threat of relegation. But as MON said in his press briefing, we must treat the game as "business as usual."

14.47pm - We think Emile Heskey will play wide left, Ashley Young on the right and Gabby Agbonlahor partnering John Carew up front.

14.40pm - 'Viva La Vida' blasts out - great choice again. Two weeks in a row now. Yes, before you ask, I'm a Coldplay fan. Great lyrics 'that was when I ruled the world.' We ruled England in 1981 and Europe in 1982 - and we'll do it again!

14.40pm - Interesting line-up this afternoon. No recognised right-back - presume James Milner will be playing there. Luke Young has been struggling with a toe injury for quite a few weeks and MON has decided to rest him - ensuring no aggravation to the injury.

14.35pm - We're all still reeling from the news of Martin Laursen's retirement. You couldn't meet a nicer guy off the field and on it, he was a lionheart, a leader, a collossus and, more importantly, a born winner. He'll be a big miss but in the years to come, we must all remember the impact he had here at Villa. We'll be posting your tributes to the skipper early next week. Makes for emotional reading.

14.30pm - Well, we're here and ready for more away day joy. There's nothing like a final road trip and victory for the claret and blue troops.

Martin O'Neill makes two changes from the side which lost 3-1 at Fulham - Emile Heskey and Carlos Cuellar replacing Zat Knight and Luke Young.

Middlesbrough: Jones; Hoyte, Huth, Bates, Wheater; O'Neil, Johnson, Arca, Downing; Tuncay, Emnes. Subs: Taylor, Shawky, King (for Downing, 23), Turnbull, McMahon, Grounds, Walker (for O'Neil, 72).

VILLA: Friedel; Milner BOOKED, Davies, Cuellar, Shorey; A Young, Barry BOOKED, Petrov, Heskey; Agbonlahor, Carew. Subs: Sidwell, Guzan, Gardner, Clark, Reo-Coker (for A Young, 71), Knight, Delfouneso.

By Paul Brown

There but for the grace of god. I think that's the phrase.

Our opponents this weekend potentially face the most crushing experience of all in football - relegation. Gareth Southgate's Middlesbrough need six points from their final two games - and even then, they are relying on results from other matches.

Former Villa skipper Southgate has already called for his team to keep up their end of the bargain by winning the deadly double but relegation could arrive this weekend if the result at The Riverside doesn't go their way. It will feel like a funeral if that happens but Martin O'Neill, a respectful and thoughtful man off the field, will treat the crunch clash as "business as usual."

Entry into the newly-formed Europa League is already guaranteed but the Villa boss has revealed a desire to finish fifth and beat our points total from last season. They are goals and O'Neill will insist his team fights with every sinew to achieve them.

To be fair, knowing the make-up of MON, he would expect 100 per cent effort if he was manager of a team top of the Barclays Premier League or bottom of League Two. Lethargy and apathy are not accepted.

There are other important reasons why Villa will ignore Middlesbrough's plight. Often, a successful ending to one season will provoke positive thoughts about the coming campaign. O'Neill will want to send his fans home happy this summer as he looks to oversee another successful campaign in 2009-10.

He also has plenty to be positive about going into the game - judging by his own and his club's record on Teesside. Martin has never lost as a manager at The Riverside while Villa also have an outstanding record there.

We even managed a 5-2 victory in 2003 when our away record was abysmal. All good omens I hope.

With an unbelievable amount still to play for, this promises to be a cracker.

Villa are at The Riverside Stadium this afternoon for a tough clash with Middlesbrough - and there are two ways to follow the game on your official website.

You can follow every kick with Jack Woodward and Ian 'Chico' Hamilton with live radio commentary on AVTV - click here to access.

Paul Brown is also providing live text updates. Follow the key moments and chat with Paul by emailing in your comments.

Our in-depth post-match coverage includes a match report on the final whistle as well as reaction from MON and his first team stars on AVTV.