Aston Villa 1 Manchester City 0: Newcomer Bent can straighten out Villa's problems

Bent paid the first instalment of his club record 18m fee with the winner on his debut against Manchester City at Villa Park on Saturday evening.

The former Sunderland player had barely a dozen touches of the ball throughout a game dominated by the visitors, but he made the decisive contribution with his 18th-minute finish.

It moved Bent level on 82 Premier League goals alongside Didier Drogba and Wayne Rooney as the highest scorer among players still performing in the top flight.

Central defender Collins is convinced Villa will climb clear of relegation with Bent's clinical finishing and a repeat of the solid defending which shut out City's 27m striker Edin Dzeko.

Collins said: "It is great for the players to see someone of Darren's quality coming into Villa and it does show the intent of the club.

"He has given a lift to the players, the staff and the fans.

"It is not being disrespectful to anyone but we haven't scored enough goals this season as well as conceding too many.

"Darren has scored goals where ever he has been and I'm sure he will get a lot at Villa because we do create chances.

"People say he only had a handful of touches in the game but he can do that every week as long as he gets the winner."

Collins believes Villa's 4-0 drubbing against City at Eastlands last month was the turning point for Gerard Houllier's side.

He said: "We weren't playing well before that game but that was the match where we were rock bottom.

"It was a terrible performance. We spoke about it afterwards and said we've got to do something about this. Since then we've improved and we are still improving.

"The way we played against City has been coming for the last couple of weeks. We've slowly and gradually grown in confidence.

"We are not happy with our position in the league but if we show half the desire and quality evident in this game we will climb the table quickly."

Houllier also pointed to the setback at City as the catalyst for the revival in Villa's fortunes.

He said: "That game really affected us. From that point, we started to get together a bit more, work for each other a bit more.

"This game epitomises what we want to do. You have to compete, enjoy things together, and we are in a fight to avoid relegation.

"This is a challenge but if you look at us now we are physically better and stronger mentally and that is very important.

"Having spirit and heart is very crucial and I said if we stick together, nothing serious will happen."

Houllier confirmed his other major January signing, 6m midfielder Jean Makoun from Lyon, will be in contention to play at Wigan tomorrow after obtaining a work permit.

With City manager Roberto Mancini flying back to Italy to visit his ill father, it was left to City assistant boss Brian Kidd to analyse his side's setback.

But he is confident City will respond and that new signing Dzeko will live up to his price tag once he adapts to life in the Premier League.

Kidd said: "Our aim at the beginning of this season was to get into the top four.

"We can't depend on other teams. All we can influence is how we play and perform. We lost against Everton and the response from that was very good.

"No doubt the boys will respond in the same manner in the forthcoming games. It is a blip.

"That will happen from time to time and we are disappointed but it is history and we will put it behind us."

Dzeko missed a couple of gilt-edged chances on his second full appearance for City including a close-range header near the end which could have rescued a point.

Kidd said: "Edin is a terrific talent. He fully understands the Premier League is a demanding division. There is no doubt he needs a few games. I don't think he had played for 30 or 40 days before he came here.

"Once he gets in the swing of things he will show what he is made of and he's a talented lad."

Bent was delighted to end a tough week with a winning goal on his debut.

The striker, who made an acrimonious move from Sunderland in the middle of last week, slotted home after Joe Hart had parried Ashley Young's effort.

"It was a difficult game, they always say the first goal is the most important and we got it early," he said.

"It's been a hard week but these are the occasions we enjoy and I'm going to enjoy it."

Villa had to withstand heavy pressure in the second half and Richard Dunne praise the performance of his central defensive partner Collins.

"James Collins was brilliant and we defended well as a team," he added.

Houllier was also keen to praise the performance of his whole team. He said: "I'm pleased for Darren because it's his first goal for us, also his first game, but I thought the whole team were fantastic. We've beaten a great team.

"We kept a clean sheet, sometimes with a bit of luck, but you don't win games only with luck, also a bit of talent."