By Justin Palmer
LEICESTER, England (Reuters) - Leicester City's stirring Post Horn Gallop had been threatening to turn into a mournful Last Post as their wretched season limped along -- but the seeds of hope are starting to sprout afresh at the King Power stadium.
The Foxes' trumpet fanfare -- a nod to the county's hunting traditions which greets City's arrival before every home game -- was blasted out with renewed gusto on Saturday and Nigel Pearson (LONDON:PSON)'s men responded with a deserved 1-0 success over Aston Villa.
So the heralding of the New Year has brought renewed optimism to a team who were seemingly heading straight back to England's second tier, a league they had shown they were far too good for last season.
A second win in three and seven points from nine has underlined the Premier League basement side's belief. Since halting a 13-match winless run with victory at Hull City in late December, City have shown a much-needed steelier side.
They battled back from two goals down to draw at Liverpool on New Year's Day, then followed up with an FA Cup victory over Premier League rivals Newcastle United last weekend.
While taking three points against an inept Villa side, secured with a sweet strike from defender Paul Konchesky in first-half stoppage time, was not enough to move City off the bottom, they at least signalled they remain up for a dogfight.
Even the late straight red card for Matty James for an awful tackle on Jores Okore -- prompting a melee that led to Villa's Ciaran Clark also being dismissed for retaliation -- could not take the gloss of Pearson's day.
"We've never doubted our own ability," Pearson told reporters.
"It's nice to be talking after four decent results. But it's a case of looking forward and not dwelling on what's happened already.
"We have to make sure we give ourselves a chance of being successful this year, whatever successful turns out to be."
Pearson, who has lost Algerian Riyad Mahrez to the African Nations Cup, has brought in Croatian hotshot Andrej Kramaric from HNK Rijeka, subject to him being granted a work permit, and veteran keeper Mark Schwarzer.
With Kramaric looking on from the stands, Leicester's misfiring strikers wasted chance after chance to kill off Villa.
It was left to Konchesky to show his team mates how to finish, drilling in an unstoppable first-time shot from the edge of the box.