Aston Villa boss Gerard Houllier is delighted to see his players smiling again and confident they are now "physically and mentally stronger".
Houllier, who took over in September, saw his team move clear of the Premier League relegation zone with a 1-0 win over Manchester City on Saturday.
A goal from £18million signing Darren Bent on his debut enabled Villa to gain revenge for the 4-0 humiliation at Eastlands on December 28.
And, with one defeat in five games ahead of the game against Wigan, Houllier admits his camp is a lot happier than the last time they faced City.
That manager couldnt run a serie F team properly. He is to arrogant to be a manager of a team for more than some months.