Juan Pablo Angel insists he could still have a future in English football after proving that he has not "forgotten" where the back of the net is.

The Colombian striker has become a forgotten man at Villa Park this season, having not found the net since scoring in last term's final home game.

He has fallen further out of favour by the week, to the extent that it was Luke Moore who came off the bench before Angel against Bolton Wanderers at the Reebok Stadium against Bolton Wanderers on Saturday.

* Did you see the game? Visit our messageboard and give us your verdict. *

And, although manager David O'Leary claims there have been no official inquiries, speculation has increased about a move back to South America in the January transfer window.

But, with his side having just gone 1-0 down to Bolton, Angel answered the doubters in the best possible way.

Just four minutes after coming on as a late substitute, he scored his first goal of the season to earn another big away point. And, although his 49th strike in domestic competitions for Villa was a scrappy effort, he claims he never lost faith in his own ability.

" Sometimes," said Angel, "you play 90 minutes and you don't get a chance. I played 60 minutes against Newcastle last week and I didn't get a chance.

"I played six minutes today and I got a goal. That is football. But I knew my bad run would not last forever. It was not that I had forgotten how to score goals.

"I've been doing that for a few years now, since I made my debut at 16 and I still think I've got a few years left in me too.

"When you are honest and you work hard things will work out for you.

"I knew that it was going to come fairly soon as I was feeling better about myself and feeling sharper.

"Over the last few weeks I was starting to feel well. You know yourself when you're coming to the point when you can break that spell.

"This is the best squad we've had here, with four good strikers, and proper competition for places, which is the way it should be.

"The season is far from over. So far it has not been a good one, but the second half is to come. And I still feel there is a big job to do here."

O'Leary may now have some more thinking to do, after recently admitting that Angel's poor form had caused him to change his plans this season, having originally bought Milan Baros to partner the Colombian, with Kevin Phillips earmarked only as a stand-in.

"I bought Baros to pay off Angel," repeated the Villa boss. "But, when the gauntlet's been thrown down to Kevin Phillips, he and Baros have been the better partnership."

Yet O'Leary also points out that, if Angel were to find his old scoring touch again on a regular basis, it would not be the first time he has bounced back from a barren patch at Villa.

"When I first came here, you couldn't find him around the place, if you know what I mean," said O'Leary. "He'd been lost for two years. Then he had a good year on the back of scoring all those goals for us, and changing games for us, but he hasn't been able to go on and live up to it since.

"And I just hope that gives him a great boost."

There was just as big a sense of relief and support in the dressing room.

"I was so happy for him," said Angel's teammate Thomas Sorensen. "It has been a long time coming but he took his goal well.

"Confidence is a big thing in football. We now have Manchester United coming up next week and, who knows, a good result there might set us up."