Villa win for the first time under Paul Lambert as they beat League One side Tranmere to progress to the third round of the League Cup.

Paul Lambert's Villa, seeking respite from their League troubles, see off League One Tranmere at Villa Park to progress in the League Cup as Villa are represented by one of the youngest sides to have taken the field for the club in many seasons. 

Defender Enda Stevens, 22, contributes an assist on his debut for Villa after joining from Shamrock Rovers in January 2012 under Alex McLeish for a fee of £257,000 to become the 847th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Forward Graham Burke makes his debut appearance for Villa aged 18 after coming through the youth team ranks to become the 848th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Darren Bent scores his 1st goal under Paul Lambert and his 20th in a Villa shirt on his 43rd appearance (42 Starts) to make it W16 D13 L14, 20 Goals, 2 Assists and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career. Bent's goal comes on his 3rd appearance under Lambert.

Fabian Delph collects his 10th booking in a Villa shirt on his 36th appearance (27 Starts) at a rate of a card every 3.60 games he has played and makes it W14 D10 L12, 2 Goals and 10 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Brett Holman scores his 1st goal and contributes his 1st assist in a Villa shirt on his 3rd appearance (1 Start) to make it W1 D0 L2, 1 Goal and 1 Assist so far in his Villa career.

Paul Lambert's Villa once again have to seek respite in the League Cup from their Premier League travails yet despite being two up it takes an injury time winner from Christian Benteke to see off League One Swindon.

Villa beat League One Swindon in injury time to progress to the League Cup Quarter Final.

Andreas Weimann makes his 25th appearance in a Villa shirt (10 Starts) to make it W9 D11 L5, 2 Goals and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Villa win for the 2nd time in 10 Premier League games under Paul Lambert but the madness deepens with the ostracism of Darren Bent.

Andreas Weimann secures his 10th win in a Villa shirt on his 26th appearance (11 Starts) to make it W10 D11 L5, 2 Goals and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Gabriel Agbonlahor scores his first league goal in 28 matches to make it W98 D82 L82, 66 Goals, 31 Assists and 26 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Christian Benteke contributes his 1st assist in a Villa shirt on his 9th appearance (7 Starts) to make it W4 D2 L3, 4 Goals, 1 Assist and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Stephen Ireland makes his 50th appearance in a Villa shirt (40 Starts) to make it W12 D16 L22, 1 Goal, 6 Assists (two against lower league opposition) and 3 Bookings so far in his Villa career. Ireland's League record is 1 goal and 4 assists in 42 matches.

Eric Lichaj collects his 10th booking in a Villa shirt on his 29th appearance (21 Starts) at a rate of 1 card for every 2.9 games he has played to make it W10 D9 L10, 2 Goals, 2 Assists and 10 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Villa lose their 6th game in 11 Premier League matches under Paul Lambert to remain 17th in the table but deliver an improved performance before familiar capitulation against Manchester United.

Villa's woeful campaign continues as they lose for the seventh time in twelve Premier League games under Paul Lambert yet there remains little sign of boardroom concern at the clear downward spiral Villa now find themselves in.

It had taken the much maligned Alex McLeish 20 matches of the 2011-12 season to lose as many games.

Villa had conceded three or more goals on four occasions in 12 matches under Lambert.

Under McLeish Villa had conceded three or more goals on four occasions across 38 games. 

Forward Jordan Bowery, 21, makes his debut after a simply ridiculous step up in level having joined from League Two side Chesterfield for a fee of £567,000 in August 2012 to become the 852nd player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football. 

Ciaran Clark makes his 50th start in a Villa shirt (56 Appearances) to make it W18 D15 L23, 7 Goals, 3 Assists and 16 Bookings so far in his Villa career. Clark has now picked up a booking every 3.50 games he has played.

Brad Guzan concedes his 50th goal in a Villa shirt on his 41st appearance (39 Starts) to make it W18 D7 L16, 53 Goals Conceded, 11 Clean Sheets, 1.50 Goals per League Game and 4 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Marc Albrighton makes his 75th appearance in a Villa shirt from the bench (46 Starts) to make it W23 D23 L29, 9 Goals, 11 Assists, 9 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Villa secure a much needed point as they draw with Arsenal but now have just two wins in thirteen Premier League games under Paul Lambert. 

Villa stop a run of two defeats and eight goals conceded to keep a clean sheet and earn a goalless draw with 8th placed Arsenal but remain 18th in the table.

Karim El Ahmadi collects his fifth booking in a Villa shirt on his 13th appearance (12 Starts) to make it W3 D4 L6, 1 Goal and 5 Bookings 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.

Paul Lambert's Villa start 2013 in terrible shape. A manager who looked out of his depth after 8 games now looked positively dangerous after 25. 

Villa stop their worst ever run of defeats - losing three and conceding fifteen without scoring - but can only draw with Swansea as they enter the new year in arguably the worst form since 1970 and undeniably since 1986.

Seventeen goals conceded in four games, a record defeat, a bomb squad that had robbed the squad of much needed defensive talent and a bizarre choice to consistently leave the best goalkeeper at the club on the bench, were just the headlines of Lambert’s reign. If Paul Lambert’s incoherent mumblings made no sense nor did his actions. 

Yet for the first time in four games Villa scored as Christian Benteke once again secured Villa points they didn’t otherwise look like getting and climb to sixteenth in the table - one point above the relegation places. 

Paul Lambert’s preferred side had delivered just once, albeit spectacularly at Anfield, in 21 League games and that was enough for many to cling to the belief that the Villa boss would get things right. Yet the reality was Villa were in a mess that would fester and worsen through inaction. Pride comes before a fall after all.

Christian Benteke's remarkable start continutes as he contributes his 15th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 21st appearance (19 Starts) to make it W7 D6 L8, 9 Goals, 6 Assists and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Brad Guzan makes his 50th appearance in a Villa shirt (48 Starts) to make it W20 D11 L19, 72 Goals Conceded, 14 Clean Sheets, 1.70 Goals per League Game and 4 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Fabian Delph collects his 15th booking in a Villa shirt on his 49th appearance (35 Starts) at a rate of a card every 3.27 games he has played and makes it W18 D15 L16, 2 Goals and 15 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Matt Lowton makes his 25th appearance in a Villa shirt to make it W8 D7 L10, 1 Goal and 4 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Villa lose for the third time in four Premier League games having scored twice and conceded eighteen whilst failing to win as Paul Lambert continues to be backed in post despite Villa taking residence in the bottom three.

Villa lose their eleventh game in 22 Premier League matches under Paul Lambert.

Nathan Baker makes his 25th start in a Villa shirt (27 Appearances) to make it W8 D5 L14, 1 Booking and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Enda Stevens makes his 9th and final appearance in a Villa shirt (7 Starts) before moving on to Portsmouth on a free transfer in July 2015. Stevens would leave with a record of W4 D2 L3, 1 Assist and 1 Booking.