Derby boss Paul Jewell admits the impressive Emanuel Villa has given him plenty of optimism ahead of his side's return to the Championship.The Rams still need five points to beat Sunderland's record low Premier League points total but despite their dismal campaign Jewell remains upbeat over their chances of a quick return.
And he believes Argentinian striker Villa could be the man to take the Championship by storm next season after the 26-year-old hit both his side's goals in a surprisingly entertaining 2-2 draw with Fulham.
Jewell said: "Emanuel will be one player in the Championship who I think will score lots of goals. He's an outstanding header of the ball - one of the very best that I've seen.
"It's difficult coming into a team that isn't really creating chances and feeding on scraps but he is getting better all the time. I am sure he will be even better once he has got a proper pre-season inside him."
Villa, a £2million signing from Mexican side UAG Tecos in January, gave the Rams a slightly fortuitous 10th minute lead when he deflected Dean Leacock's harmless long-range drive past Fulham keeper Kasey Keller.
The second-bottom visitors, who surely wasted the best chance they will ever have to snap a dismal run of 32 away games without a win, responded through Diomansy Kamara's 24th minute equaliser.
The striker glanced home a Simon Davies cross and Fulham might have gone on to claim all three precious points had Jimmy Bullard not hit the crossbar from a dangerous free-kick early in the second half.
Both sides had good chances with Bullard again coming close for the visitors and both Robert Earnshaw and Robbie Savage missing good chances for a home side who looked determined to go down with a fight.
Finally Fulham looked to have seized their lifeline in the 77th minute when Hameur Bouazza booted the ball goalwards where it took a wicked deflection over Leacock and looped over the helpless Roy Carroll.
But with the Cottagers' massed ranks of travelling fans still celebrating, the Rams broke down the other end and two minutes later the impressive Mile Sterjovski crossed for Villa to head home his second.
The goal was a hammer-blow for Fulham boss Roy Hodgson, who admitted: "We won't be the last team to commit that cardinal sin. It's something we as coaches preach and warn players about but it is an emotional game.
"Unfortunately in the euphoria of seeing a potential victory late in the game they switch off for a few seconds and make a mistake and suddenly it's back to parity - but even after that I thought we had our chances."
Hodgson said he would take solace from his side's attacking threat, but he now knows his side's survival chances are slight with results elsewhere conspiring to leave them rooted firmly in the drop zone.
"We're a further two points behind but things can change. Two victories and two defeats for somebody else is back to parity. So we have got to believe in ourselves and go out and get our own results."
Jewell has no such worries, and will now begin building for next season eager to learn the lessons from his side's wretched current campaign.
Jewell added: "Everything is towards next season now. It would be nice to get past 15 points but if we had the option of sticking on 11 points but coming back up next season, I would take it."
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