Blackburn in November is cold and wet. It also gets dark early but you can get a nice pint. Fortunately it is an early kick off today so there will be plenty of time for those travelling to get a few of those pints in and talk about the three points picked up away from Villa Park.
What they will not be talking about is the rumour that Gerard Houllier is interested in Manchester United midfielder Darron Gibson because there is no truth in it. We already have players that play his game and most supporters will know, or maybe that should be hope, that Gerard Houllier isn't going to dismantle the youthful and very successful squad he has inherited at Aston Villa.
With a bit of luck, what they will be talking about is how Stewart Downing was once again fantastic on the left, how Marc Albrighton again showed so much promise on the right and that if Barry Bannan was English, there might be a real chance for England at the next World Cup.
But that is what I would like and I have a soft basis for it, but it is more hopeful than anything else.
You see, Blackburn have become a lot like Bolton recently. They play hard, hit long and fight for everything and much like Bolton under Fat Sam, give little away but also get little back. This game is for the taking, if we play smarter and work just as hard.
Updates and team news
To get three points today would be fantastic and everything is possible. The odds for the match are below and we will be updating this page with team news as we get it and Twittering a lot of the day.
But don't be surprised if the team is the same as last week with maybe Clark coming in for Collins.
Prediction
You know I'm predicting a win and that I think is where the smart money will be but we can not do it if we play Blackburn the way they will force the game on us. We need to bring a little composure to this game, soak it up and wait for Blackburn to make the inevitable mistakes that they make and we need to be clinical.
Allow Blackburn to get control of this game and it could get messy, but if we play the football we know we can play, this could be a very rewarding victory.