IF fans want to learn about the character of sports stars then there is no better state in which to watch them than adversity.

Rebounding after a setback is all part of the professional’s daily search for perfection. The best in any competition are those who respond to hard times in a positive manner.

That was roughly what boss Mark Hughes will have said to his cowed troops before they stepped out at Villa Park to kick off their Premier League campaign and what he will be repeating ahead of West Ham’s visit next Sunday.

It is a fair bet that the manager’s words were perhaps a little more industrial and delivered with a withering intonation that dared the listener to ignore his wisdom.

Nevertheless the bottom line, as one of the City chief’s more recent predecessors might have declared, would have been that, at Villa, he wanted to see some kind of positive reaction to the Uefa Cup embarrassment 72 hours previously.

Having one foot out of the European exit door before a ball has been kicked in anger was not written in the script when Hughes switched from East Lancashire to East Manchester but then again the former Wales boss has quickly learned that not everything, and occasionally not anything, is what it seems at City.

There are few shades of grey where fans are concerned and the home defeat to Midtjylland on the same night that Villa were securing a smooth passage into the first round of the Uefa Cup was about as black as the hobs of Hell – as my grandmother’s generation were apt to say.

Booed off and then slated by supporters on every one of the modern world’s interactive, converged media platforms it was clear that much more was expected by City followers on this season’s Premier League debut.

Statistics were, after all, in the Blues favour given that the myriad facts and figures - most of them as fatuous as they are entertaining and grounds for a decent argument– showed City to be unbeaten in their last six visits to the venerable Midlands ground.

Couple that fact with the knowledge that the Blues win 50% of their matches in August and there was every reason to be optimistic.

So was the faith rewarded, were the Blues – without their suspended captain Richard Dunne - considerably better than they had been in their limp home performance on Thursday night? Did the manager’s words and promises fall on stony ground?

The truth is that the answer could not be convincingly argued either way. The result suggested they were poor but the watching was more encouraging with City’s football much superior to Villa’s for a deal of the contest.

Hughes kept faith will the majority though his plans for a 4-4-1-1 formation (shades of Sven there) was hindered by the loss of Valeri Bojinov in the warm up.

The sight of the seemingly cursed Bulgarian being carried from the pitch with a damaged Achilles was hardly the note on which to kick off a campaign though it did hand teenaged Wales international Ched Evans a top flight debut.

Without suspended skipper Richard Dunne, boss Hughes slipped Ben Haim across from left back into the middle. Javier Garrido beat Michael Ball to the left back slot and Kelvin Etuhu replaced Felipe Caicedo.

Villa, the more eager in the tackle early on, had a welter of chances but Joe Hart twice denied the giant Norwegian John Carew and Ashley Young screwed wide from a decent angle.

When City had the ball they moved it quite well winning the odd corner but never really established the necessary midfield bridgehead to dominate Gareth Barry and Nigel Reo-Cocker, two men with plenty to prove in the home ranks.

It was that pair who combined in the 26th minute for the best chance of the opening exchanges. The former West Ham midfielder sent in a cross that Hart could only palm into the path of Barry whose normally reliable left foot sent a shot skidding into the side netting.

The one time Liverpool target then brought another diving stop from Hart before the quick breaking Blues went the length of the field through Michael Johnson, Elano, and Martin Petrov whose shot brought the first save of the season for Brad Friedel.

Encouragingly the longer the half went on the better City got. There was a pleasing fluency on the break, more discipline to their play and Villa saw less and less of the ball even so it took a wonderfully athletic clearance from ersatz skipper Micah Richards to prevent Gabriel Agbonlahor from opening the scoring two minutes from the break.

Most of Villa’s best chances came from City needlessly giving the ball away and two minutes after the break that bad habit proved fatal when Fernandes’ duff pass let in the home side and two passes later Carew was planting it into the net.

His blushes were temporarily spared in the 63rd minute when Petrov’s clever pass and Johnson’s lung power and persistence confused new signings Luke Young and Nicky Shorey and led to the former tripping Johnson. Elano scored from the spot with ease.

Having drawn level City refused to shut the game down and paid the price again five minutes later when Curtis Davies won a far post aerial battle and Agbonlahor volleyed beyond Hart.

Another five minutes elapsed before City were exposed down the right again and Barry crossed for Agbonlahor to nod home. The Villa man then heaped more salt into gaping wounds by stretching clear of Richards to complete a seven minute hat-trick.

Vedran Corluka netted his first goal for City in the last minute but even that didn’t lend the scoreline a true reflection.