• Villa hand a debut to Tyrone Mings as Dean Smith's revolution continues but they are held at the Madjeski. Having been in post for three months Dean Smith embarked on a clear out of the Villa squad he inherited, organising fresh loan spells for 6 players as well as bringing in and immediately loaning back French right back Frédéric Guilbert. 

• Centre back Mings Tyrone makes his Villa debut aged 26 after joining on loan from AFC Bournemouth until the end of the season. Mings becomes the 928th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

• Midfielder Tom Carroll makes his Villa debut aged 25 as a 74’ substitute after  joining on loan from Swansea City until the end of the season. Carrol becomes the 927th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

• Another of Dean Smith’s signings Lovre Kalinić keeps his first clean sheet in his fifth game for the club having conceded 9 in the previous 4 to make it W1 D2 L2, 9 Goals Conceded, 1 Clean Sheet and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

• Future Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez lined up for Reading whilst Tommy Elphick lined up for Villa against the club to whom he had been exiled by former boss Steve Bruce.

• Villa draw for a third successive game but remain unbeaten in five Championship matches.

• Villa had now drawn the last 3 Championship fixtures vs. Brentford, Reading and Ipswich and had only managed to beat Hull City and Wigan Athletic. 

• At the season end of those opponents Brentford would hold the highest league position of 11th, with the remaining sides finishing 20th, 24th and relegated, 13th and 18th. 

• The disenchantment with Steve Bruce’s approach and results was growing as was the Villa boss’s intolerance of criticism.

• Winger Anwar El Ghazi made his Villa debut aged 23 after joining on a season long loan from LOSC Lille creating an assist for Ahmed Elmohamady’s second goal of the season on 51’. El Ghazi becomes the 922nd player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

• Jonathan Kodjia makes his 50th start in a Villa shirt (60 Appearances) to make it W26 D18 L16, 23 Goals, 5 Assists, 9 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

• Axel Tuanzebe makes his 10th apperance for Villa (9 Starts) to make it W4 D5 L1 so far in his Villa career.

• Ahmed Elmohamady scores his second goal in a Villa shirt on his 50th appearance (43 Starts) to make it W26 D14 L10, 6 Assists and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

• Villa win for the first time in four games as they return to form with 18 shots on target and 3 goals with all three coming from players Steve Bruce had recalled for the match. 

• Robert Snodgrass secures his 20th win in a Villa shirt on his 35th appearance (34 Starts) to make it W20 D8 L7, 7 Goals, 14 Assists and 8 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

• Scott Hogan scores his 10th goal in 49 appearances (29 Starts) and his first in 10 to make it W17 D8 L14, 10 Goals, 4 Assists and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

• Sam Johnstone keeps his 25th clean sheet in a Villa shirt on his 62nd appearance to make it W29 D13 L20, 1 Assist, 63 Goals Conceded and 25 Clean Sheets so far in his Villa career.

• Ahmed Elmohamady secures his 20th win in a Villa shirt on his 38th appearance for Villa (31 Starts) to make it W22 D10 L17, 5 Assists and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

• Former Villa midfielder and Champions League hopeful Leandro Bacuna lined up for Reading.

• Villa's poor start to the season under Steve Bruce continues as they suffer a second successive defeat and are winless in three Championship games.

• Villa collapse to 23rd in the table without a win in three and concerns mount that a promotion challenge is beyond Steve Bruce’s men already. 

• James Chester makes his 50th appearance in a Villa shirt to make it W17 D15 L18, 3 Goals and 6 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

• Sam Johnstone makes his 25th appearance in a Villa shirt to make it W8 D4 L13, 32 Goals Conceded and 8 Clean Sheets so far in his Villa career.

• Birkir Bjarnason makes his 10th appearance in a Villa shirt (7 Starts) to make it W4 D0 L6 so far in his Villa career.

• Recently departed Leandro "Champions League" Bacuna sat on the bench for his new club Reading.

• Villa lose for the first time in six as another strong run comes to an end with Steve Bruce's side now just playing for pride ahead of an expected promotion challenge in 2017-18.

• Jack Grealish makes his 75th appearance in a Villa shirt (42 Starts) to make it W21 D14 L40, 4 Goals, 7 Assists, 10 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

• Jordan Amavi suffers his 20th defeat in a Villa shirt on his 46th appearance (37 Starts) to make it W15 D11 L20, 4 Assists and 7 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

• Villa win for the 1st time in 11 games as Steve Bruce starts his tenure unbeaten in 2.

• Jonathan Kodjia secures his first win in a Villa shirt after 8 appearances to make it W1 D6 L1, 3 Goals and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

• Albert Adomah contributes his first assist in a Villa shirt on his 6th appearance (5 Starts) to make it W1 D4 L1 and 1 Assist so far in his Villa career.

• Jordan Ayew scores his 10th goal in a Villa shirt on his 49th appearance (42 Starts) to make it W7 D15 L27, 10 Goals, 3 Assists, 11 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

• Villa win their second game of the season at the eleventh attempt as Steve Bruce secures his first win.

• Another of the relegation mob bites the dust as left back Aly Cissokho makes his final appearance for Villa aged 29 before moving on to Yeni Malatyaspor in August 2017 on a free transfer. Villa had signed Cissokho under Paul Lambert in August 2014 from Valencia CF for a fee of £2,250,000 and he made 58 appearances (2 Starts) in his 3 seasons with the club to leave with a record of W11 D16 L31, 1 Assist, 5 Bookings and 1 Red Card.

• Meanwhile, in a surprise to nobody, another one of the culpable party, Micah Richards’ first start in 6 months results in an injury and subsequent absence from the squad. 

• Villa win for the second time in 2013 and for the sixth Premier League game in twenty nine under Paul Lambert as they overcome second from bottom side Reading.

• Christian Benteke secures his 10th win in a Villa shirt on his 31st appearances (29 Starts) to make it W10 D8 L13, 16 Goals, 7 Assists and 6 Bookings.

• Nathan Baker secures his 10th win in a Villa shirt on his 34th appearance (31 Starts) to make it W10 D7 L17, 3 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

• Ciaran Clark secures his 25th win in a Villa shirt on his 78th appearance (72 Starts) to make it W25 D21 L32, 7 Goals, 3 Assists and 20 Bookings so far in his Villa career. Clark has now picked up a booking every 3.90 games he has played.

• Andreas Weimann contributes his 1st assist in a Villa shirt on his 46th appearance (27 Starts) to make it W17 D14 L15, 12 Goals, 1 Assist and 4 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

• Ashley Westwood collects his 1st booking in a Villa shirt on his 22nd appearance (20 Starts) to make it W6 D6 L10, 3 Assists and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

• Villa win for just the third time in fourteen Premier League games as they strike late to score their first goal in three games under Paul Lambert.

• Christian Benteke scores his 5th goal in a Villa shirt and 3rd in the League on his 13th appearance (11 Starts) to make it W5 D3 L5, 5 Goals and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

• Villa launch a thrilling comeback as a League Cup hangover threatens to derail their FA Cup journey,

• John Carew's hat-trick secured a swift return to Wembley and meant Villa had just one defeat in fourteen games since the turn of the year.

• John Carew scores his 40th, 41st and 42nd goals in a Villa shirt on his 107th appearance (83 Starts) to make it W42 D36 L29, 42 Goals, 11 Assists and 10 Bookings at a goal involvement rate of one every 1.57 starts so far in his Villa career.

• Brad Friedel makes his 75th appearance in a Villa shirt to make it W36 D23 L16, 83 Goals Conceded at a rate of 1.11 goals per game, 25 Clean Sheets (33%), 1 Booking and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

• Villa secure successive wins to remain 6th in the table, level on points with Liverpool and are now just three off fourth place under Martin O’Neill.

• Villa now have just one defeat in eleven Premier League games under Martin O'Neill as they see off Reading at the Madejski.

• Scott Carson makes his 25th appearance in a Villa shirt to make it W13 D6 L6, 3 Assists, 31 Goals Conceded at a rate of 1.24 goals per game, 7 Clean Sheets (28%), 1 Booking and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

• Villa record a third consecutive Premier League victory in six unbeaten games  under Martin O'Neill as Reading are swept aside at Villa Park to sit 6th in the Premier League table. 

• Midfielder Moustapha Salifou, 24, makes his debut for Villa as a 90' substitute after joining from FC Wil 1900 for a fee of £450,000 in August 2007 to become the 805th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

• Stiliyan Petrov secures his 20th win in a Villa shirt on his 54th appearance (47 Starts) to make it W20 D18 L16, 2 Goals, 1 Assist and 5 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

• Martin Laursen secures his 20th win in a Villa shirt on his 51st appearance (49 Starts) to make it W20 D19 L12, 7 Goals, 2 Assists and 3 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

• Craig Gardner makes his 25th start in a Villa shirt (40 Appearances) to make it W16 D9 L15, 5 Goals, 1 Assist and 6 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

• Shaun Maloney makes his 25th appearance in a Villa shirt (11 Starts) to make it W11 D8 L6, 7 Goals and 0 Assists so far in his Villa career.

• Villa lose for the second time in three Premier League games but once again out-play the opposition only to be beaten as Martin O'Neill's new charges continue to bed in.

• Martin O'Neill's side recover from their torrid 'keeper-less and win-less form of December 2006 to stabilise results in the new year after an excellent opening 15 games but results continued to be of a topsy turvy nature with the last 5 games delivering a run of LWLWL however the continued bedding in of Ashley Young and John Carew meant hopes were high that greater point accumulating consistency could be found to the end of the season.

• Shaun Maloney, 24, makes his debut in a Villa shirt after joining from Celtic for £1,350,000 in January 2007 to become the 799th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

• Stiliyan Petrov makes his 25th appearance in a Villa shirt to make it W6 D9 L10, 1 Goal, 1 Assist and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

• Gary Cahill makes his 25th appearance in a Villa shirt (24 Starts) to make it W6 D6 L13, 1 Goal, 1 Assist and 6 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

• Villa win their first home game under Martin O'Neill as Reading are swatted aside.

• Martin O'Neill records his first win as Villa boss to rise to 5th in the early Premier League table.

• Jlloyd Samuel secures his 70th win in a Villa shirt on his 197th appearance (171 Starts) to make it W70 D52 L75, 3 Goals, 10 Assists, 26 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

• Peter Whittingham contributes his 5th assist in a Villa shirt on his 63rd appearance (37 Starts) to make it W24 D17 L22, 2 Goals, 5 Assists and 6 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

• Dion Dublin scores on the stroke of half time to send Villa through to the 4th Round of the League Cup.

• George Boateng makes his 100th appearance in a Villa shirt (93 Starts) to make it W43 D31 L26, 5 Goals and 25 Bookings at a rate of a card every 4.00 games so far in his Villa career.

• Lee Hendrie secures his 70th win in a Villa shirt on his 160th appearance (121 Starts) to make it W70 D43 L47, 19 Goals, 17 Assists, 29 Bookings and 3 Red Cards at a goal involvement rate of one for every 4.57 games he has played so far in his Villa career.

• Mark Delaney secures his 30th win in a Villa shirt on his 74th appearance (58 Starts) to make it W30 D23 L21, 1 Goal, 2 Assists, 9 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

Billy McNeill's Villa make it three games unbeaten and two wins as they see off Second Division Reading at Villa Park in the League Cup second leg.

Billy McNeill takes charge of Villa for the first time but can only draw against a Reading side promoted to the second tier for the first time in 50 years.

• Vic Crowe's Villa make it successive League wins for the first time since September as they win in an eight goal thriller at Elm Park however Vic Crowe's side remain susceptible defensively. As a result Villa make it eight wins, six draws and two defeats in sixteen division three games so far this season and climb to second in the table.

• Villa face Reading for the first time in competitive football, Reading become the 61st team that the Villa first team has played in League or Cup football. 

• Villa face non-league side Reading for the first time in their history and are held to a draw at home in the second round of the FA Cup. Meanwhile, midfielder Alfred Edwards made his eight and final Villa appearances aged 21 before moving on to Dudley Town in August 1912.