Second placed Villa secure a narrow victory over fourth tier side and 92nd placed Chester in the first leg of their League cup second round tie.

Full back Najwan Ghrayib, 25, makes his debut in a Villa shirt after joining from Hapoel Haifa for a fee of £900,000 in August 1999 to become the 740th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Ian Taylor makes his 175th start in a Villa shirt (188 Appearances) to make it W87 D43 L58, 24 Goals, 12 Assists and 36 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Villa's winless Premier League run extends to four under John Gregory as they are held by Wimbledon at Villa Park and are shunted down to 9th in the table.

Forward Benito Carbone, 28, makes his debut in a Villa shirt after joining from Sheffield Wednesday on a short term deal earlier this month for a fee of £250,000 to become the 742nd player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Villa's poor form continues as their winless Premier League run deepens with defeat to Southampton. 

Villa are now six games without victory under John Gregory and fall to 12th in the table as a result. 

Meanwhile, future Villa midfielder Hassan Kachloul lines up for Southampton.

Villa make it 1 defeat in 15 Premier League games under John Gregory winning 8 as they beat Wednesday to further consolidate 6th place in the table.

Villa field an all home nation XI for the final time in top flight football. Villa's line up featured 10 Englishmen and a Welshman. 

Dion Dublin makes his first start since his neck injury against the team against whom he broke a vertebra in December as Villa hit a last minute winner to consolidate 6th place in the Premier League table.

Lee Hendrie makes his 75th start in a Villa shirt (103 appearances) to make it W49 D22 L32, 9 Goals, 9 Assists, 19 Bookings and 1 Red Card at a goal involvement rate of one for every 6.05 games he has played so far in his Villa career.

Alan Thompson makes his 50th appearance in a Villa shirt (39 Starts) to make it W21 D10 L19, 4 Goals, 5 Assists and 15 Bookings at a rate of a card every 3.33 games so far in his Villa career.

Right back Jonathan Bewers, 17, makes his first squad appearance for Villa after coming through the youth ranks.

The games come thick and fast but Villa keep on winning to record their ninth victory in sixteen Premier League games under John Gregory.

Villa make it just 1 defeat in 16 Premier League games under John Gregory to consolidate 6th position.

Paul Merson makes his 50th start in a Villa shirt (65 Appearances) to make it W29 D16 L20, 9 Goals, 11 Assists and 4 Bookings at a goal involvement rate of one for every 3.25 games played so far in his Villa career.

Dion Dublin makes his 50th appearance in a Villa shirt (47 Starts) to make it W22 D11 L17, 23 Goals, 3 Assists and 5 Bookings at a goal involvement rate of one for every 1.92 games played so far in his Villa career.

David James keeps his 4th consecutive clean sheet and Villa's 6th in the last 7 games in all competitions.

Lee Hendrie secures his 50th win in a Villa shirt on his 104th appearance (76 Starts) to make it W50 D22 L32, 9 Goals, 9 Assists, 19 Bookings and 1 Red Card at a goal involvement rate of one for every 6.11 games he has played so far in his Villa career.

Villa are held to a second consecutive draw at Villa Park but now have 1 defeat in their last 19 Premier League games under John Gregory.

Full back Najwan Ghrayib, 26, makes 6th and his final appearance in a Villa shirt before returning to Hapoel Haifa for a fee of £150,000 in July 2000. Not for the first time Villa’s transfer policy under John Gregory came into question. Gregory had signed Ghrayib from Hapoel less than 9 months earlier for £900,000 and he would leave with a record of W3 D2 L1, 0 Goals and 0 Assists.

Julian Joachim makes his 100th start in a Villa shirt (144 Appearances) to make it W62 D32 L50, 37 Goals, 12 Assists and 1 Booking at a goal involvement rate of one for every 2.94 games played so far in his Villa career.

Future Villa 'keeper Thomas Sorensen lines up for Sunderland.