Joe Mercer's Villa end 1960 with just three defeats in their last sixteen make it thirteen wins, ten at home, three draws and nine defeats, seven away, in twenty five games following their return to the top flight. Villa's return to division one had been an unqualified success so far as a small squad had dealt admirably with a fixture pile up to record some impressive League results and to progress in the inaugural League Cup ahead of their first FA Cup fixtures of the season.