Villa suffer ill-luck as they are beaten at the last at the City Ground despite a much improved showing 

Villa now have four defeats in five winless Championship games under Steve Bruce in 2017 having delivered seven wins and three draws in his first thirteen matches to the end of 2016.

Villa lose for the fifth time in six games in 2017 in their worst run of the season - a run that has painful echoes of 2015-16. The difference however is that there is clear quality in this side that just needs unlocking.

Forward Scott Hogan, 24, makes his Villa debut after joining in January 2017 from Brentford for £9,450,000 to become the 904th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Right back James Bree, 19, make his Villa debut following his move from Barnsley for £3,150,000 the same month  to become the 903rd player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Jonathan Kodjia scores his 10th goal in a Villa shirt on his 21st appearance to make it W7 D9 L5, 10 Goals and 3 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Jack Grealish contributes his 5th assist on his 71st appearance for Villa (41 Starts) but is also sent off for the second time to make it W20 D13 L38, 4 Goals, 7 Assists, 10 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

Sam Johnstone concedes his 10th goal in a Villa shirt on his 5th appearance to make it W0 D1 L4, 10 Goals Conceded and 0 Clean Sheets so far in his Villa career.

Villa win consecutive games as form slowly begins to re-emerge after a torrid six weeks.

Steve Bruce's Villa win successive games for the first time since December and rise to 15th in the Championship table as a result.

Conor Hourihane scores his 1st goal for Villa on his 6th appearance (5 Starts) to make it W1 D0 L5, 1 Goal and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

André Green collects his first caution in a Villa shirt on his 17th appearance (5 Starts) to make it W3 D3 L11 and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Alan Hutton makes his 125th appearance in a Villa shirt (116 Starts) to make it W27 D30 L68, 1 Goal, 5 Assists, 30 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Off the pitch it is revealed that Villa made an £81m loss in 2015-16 in further evidence of the utterly incompetent and irresponsible hands Villa had been in during the destructive dying embers of the the Lerner regime. Although doubts remain over the entertaining but opaque Dr Tony Xia, the money invested so far largely seems to have been spent on players capable to fulfill their roles unlike the 2015-16 intake.

Villa lose for the first time in four as they are beaten by promotion chasing Huddersfield but now have 9 defeats in 13 games in 2017 under Steve Bruce.

Youth team winger Corey Blackett-Taylor makes his Villa debut to become the 906th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Steve Bruce's Villa win their fourth game in five but not for the first time this season, a player, this time Henri Lansbury - who was originally named in the starting line-up - suffered an achilles injury in the pre-match warm-up. Gary Gardner was promoted to the starting XI with Callum O'Hare taking his place on the bench.

Jonathan Kodjia scores his 15th goal in a Villa shirt on his 29th appearance to make it W11 D9 L9, 15 Goals, 1 Assist and 4 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Tommy Elphick secures his 5th win in a Villa shirt on his 22nd appearance (19 Starts) to make it W5 D8 L9, 0 Goals, 0 Assists and 4 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Nathan Baker collects his 15th booking in a Villa shirt on his 114th appearance (106 Starts) to make it W37 D23 L54, 1 Goal, 15 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Steve Bruce's Villa win their fifth game in six as their form has reversed from eight defeats in nine from the start of 2017.

Scott Hogan scores his first goal in a Villa shirt on his 5th appearance (4 Starts) to make it W1 D0 L4, 1 Goal, 0 Assists and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Steve Bruce tinkers with the side - none of which appear to be fitness or injury related - but Villa suffer a second successive defeat after leading scorer Jonathan Kodjia is shown an early red for an incident with the reckless Ryan Fredericks.

Jack Grealish scores his 5th goal in a Villa shirt on his 76th appearance (43 Starts) to make it W21 D14 L41, 5 Goals, 7 Assists, 10 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

Jonathan Kodjia is sent off on his 35th appearance for the club to make it W14 D10 L11, 19 Goals, 1 Assist, 5 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Tommy Elphick makes his 25th appearance in a Villa shirt (20 Starts) to make it W7 D8 L10, 0 Goals, 0 Assists and 4 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Alan Hutton suffers his 70th defeat in a Villa shirt on his 133rd appearance (122 Starts) to make it W32 D31 L70, 1 Goal, 5 Assists, 30 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Villa’s first campaign in the second tier in twenty nine years came to its conclusion and it was always likely to be a difficult one given the utter disarray the club was in following 2015-16. 

An underwhelming managerial appointment followed by a rescue job by a Championship specialist meant more instability. Yet Villa built a large squad with players that should have been capable of an immediate return to the top flight. That alone was an achievement. 

With the team rejuvenated, the rotten wood shipped out, quick action in the boardroom preventing a second successive relegation Villa's first season in the Championship proves a qualified success. 

The run of draws under Robert Di Matteo followed by a torrid run under Steve Bruce in the early months of 2017 effectively put paid to any potential promotion prospects. 

Buttressed between those low points however was some genuinely excellent consistency and a feeling that Villa could make an immediate Premier League return as Steve Bruce delivered promotion winning form with 14 victories in 21  Championship matches.

On the debit side, a mystifying tendency to change the team from game to game seemed to rob Villa of a personality, a way of playing or even a consistent objective as suspicions remain that Steve Bruce isn't a strategy man.

Left back Jordan Amavi makes his final appearance for Villa aged 23 before moving on to Olympique Marseille for £9,000,000 in July 2018 after a season long loan. Amavi was one of the few highlights from the 2015 recruitment intake, sadly injuries robbed Villa of his services for most to the relegation season but despite him being head and shoulders in quality above the other arrivals who agitated, failed and moved on, Jordan stayed fully committed to the cause. Over his 2 seasons with Villa, Amavi made 48 appearances, including 9 as a substitute and left with a record of W15 D12 L21, 4 Assists and 8 Bookings.

Centre back Nathan Baker is sent off for the second time in his Villa career on his 122nd and final appearance for Villa (114 Starts) aged 26 before moving on to Bristol City for £3,900,000 in July 2017. Baker had come through the youth team ranks at Villa and after 9 seasons left with a record of W40 D25 L57, 15 Bookings and 2 Red Cards.

Neil Taylor contributes his 1st assist in a Villa shirt on his 14th appearance to make it W8 D2 L4, 1 Assist and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Leandro Bacuna makes his 100th start in a Villa shirt (139 Appearances) to make it W36 D30 L64, 7 Goals, 8 Assists, 26 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Villa scrape through against League two side Colchester in their fourth League Cup meeting but first since 1979.

Forward Callum O’Hare made his Villa debut aged 19 after graduating from the Youth team ranks to become the 912th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Scott Hogan scores only his 2nd goal in a Villa shirt on his 15th appearance (11 Starts) but it only comes against lower league opposition to make it W5 D3 L7, 2 Goals, 2 Assists and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Villa win at the fourth attempt in the Championship in 2017-18 thanks to a hat-trick from the irrepressible Conor Hourihane.

Hourihane hat-trick now has 4 goals in two games as Villa rise to 16th in the table with 5 games played. 

Bizarrely Steve Bruce doesn’t take credit for his attacking team selection and blames it on having his “hand … forced”. With two assists coming from Henri Lansbury who only took the field as an early substitute for the injured Josh Onomah and a third from a player he didn’t intend to play, confidence in the manager is not high and add to the concern that there is little in the way of a tactical plan at Villa Park.

Keinan Davis contributes his first assist on his first start for the club (9 Appearances) to make it W4 D2 L3, 1 Assist so far in his Villa career.

Henri Lansbury contributes his first assists for the club on his 21st appearance (19 Starts) to make it W8 D4 L9, 2 Assists and 3 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Conor Hourihane’s hat-trick is Villa's first since Scott Sinclair in the League Cup on Tuesday, 25 August 2015 and is his 5th goal for the club in 21 appearances (16 Starts) to make it W8 D2 L11, 5 Goals, 3 Assists and 4 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

André Green scores his first goal in a Villa shirt on his 23rd appearance (8 Starts) to make it W7 D4 L12, 1 Goals and 3 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

John Terry secures his first win in a Villa shirt on his 4th appearance to make it W1 D1 L2 so far in his Villa career.

Villa ease past high flying League one side Wigan in the second round of the EFL Cup.

Birkir Bjarnason scores his 1st goal and contributes his 1st assist in a Villa shirt on his 11th appearance (14 Starts) to make it W6 D3 L9, 1 Goal and 1 Assist so far in his Villa career.

Scott Hogan scores a brace to make it 4 goals Villa shirt after 18 appearances (11 Starts) but it only comes against lower league opposition to make it W5 D3 L7, 4 Goals, 2 Assists and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career. Hogan however had just 1 league goal in his first 18 games and had failed to score in the league in 11 outings.

Albert Adomah contributes his 11th assist in a Villa shirt on his 43rd appearance (33 Starts) to make it W17 D10 L16, 4 Goals, 11 Assists and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Ritchie De Laet contributes his only assists in a Villa shirt on his 6th appearance (5 Starts) to make it W2 D2 L2, 1 Assist and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Midfielder Jake Doyle-Hayes makes his Villa debut aged 18 after coming through the youth team ranks and signing professional forms in July 2016. 

Right back Mitch Clark makes his sole appearance for Villa aged 18 after coming through the youth team ranks and signing professional forms in July 2016. Clark was released by Villa in July 2019 without making a further appearance for the club. 

Centre back Easah Suliman makes his sole appearance for Villa aged 19 as an 81’ substitute after coming through the youth team ranks and signing professional forms in July 2015. Suliman left Villa for Vitória Guimarães SC in January 2020 for an undisclosed fee without making a further appearance for the club. 

Midfielder Gary Gardner makes his final appearance for Villa aged 25 after 9 seasons with the club. Gardner made 25 starts for Villa and appeared a further 26 times as a substitute, scoring once to leave with a record of W18 D13 L15, 1 Goal and 3 Bookings. Gardner would leave Villa in July 2019 as part of a swap deal for Jota with Birmingham City. 

James Bree makes his 10th appearance in a Villa shirt (8 Starts) to make it W6 D1 L3 so far in his Villa career.

Khalid Abdo, Oscar Borg and Jordan Cox make their sole squad appearances for Villa.

Villa are held at Ashton Gate to leave them with just one win in five Championship games under Steve Bruce.

Josh Onomah scores his first goal in a Villa shirt on his 6th appearance (5 Starts) to make it W2 D2 L2, 1 Goal and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Former Villa defender Nathan Baker lines up for Bristol City.

Villa are held at home by Dean Smith's footballing Brentford side to leave Steve Bruce with one win in six Championship matches.

André Green makes his 25th appearance in a Villa shirt (10 Starts) to make it W7 D6 L12, 1 Goal and 3 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Robert Snodgrass makes his debut in a Villa shirt to become the 916th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

With Villa clearly struggling in this their second season in the Championship, Steve Bruce pulls off a real transfer coup in signing West Ham winger Robert Snodgrass on loan to the end of the campaign. Snodgrass' presence could not help Villa make the breakthrough against future Villa boss Dean Smith’s talented Brentford side. As a result Villa tumbled back to 18th in the table. 

Future Villa centre forward Ollie Watkins lines up for Brentford.

Villa's second string lose in the third round of the FA Cup to League one side Peterborough.

Josh Onomah makes his 25th appearance in a Villa shirt (18 Starts) to make it W12 D6 L7, 4 Goals, 1 Assist and 4 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Villa suffer a second successive defeat for the first time since their terrible August as their promotion push hits a bump.

Rushian Hepburn-Murphy makes his 10th appearance in a Villa shirt to make it W4 D2 L4 so far in his Villa career.

Villa win for the second time in three to keep the race for automatic promotion just about alive.

Sam Johnstone secures his 30th win in a Villa shirt on his 64th appearance to make it W30 D13 L21, 1 Assist, 66 Goals Conceded and 26 Clean Sheets so far in his Villa career.

Jack Grealish makes it 20 goal involvements as he scores for the second consecutive game on his 60th start in a Villa shirt (103 Appearances) to win the six pointer against automatic promotion rivals Cardiff and make it W35 D19 L49, 9 Goals, 11 Assists, 14 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

Villa end an excellent three-quarters of a season with defeat but it is of little import as fourth place and a first appearance in the play offs is already secured.

Mark Bunn concedes his 33rd goal in a Villa shirt on his 20th appearance (19 Starts) to make it W5 D6 L9, 33 Goals Conceded and 5 Clean Sheets so far in his Villa career.

Albert Adomah makes his 80th appearance in a Villa shirt (67 Starts) to make it W38 D18 L24, 18 Goals, 16 Assists and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Conor Hourihane makes his 60th appearance in a Villa shirt (55 Starts) to make it W30 D10 L20, 12 Goals, 5 Assists and 11 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Villa are held to a goalless draw but their first leg win at the Riverside proves enough to see them qualify for their first ever Play Off final against Championship form team Fulham. 

Sam Johnstone keeps his 30th clean sheet in a Villa shirt on his 69th appearance to make it W33 D15 L21, 1 Assist, 67 Goals Conceded and 30 Clean Sheets so far in his Villa career.

Jack Grealish collects his 15th booking in a Villa shirt on his 109th appearance (65 Starts) to make it W38 D21 L50, 9 Goals, 13 Assists, 15 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

Former Villa winger Adama Traoré lines up for Boro…. still does nothing.

Off the pitch it is announced that former Villa full back Jlloyd Samuel had died in a road traffic accident aged just 37. Samuel had played for Villa between 1997 and 2008 making 200 Appearances (168 Starts) scoring 3 goals and assisting 9.

A solitary Conor Hourihane goal beats Yeovil in a below par performance in the EFL Cup 2nd round.

Villa face Yeovil Town for the first time in competitive football, Yeovil become the 161st team that the Villa first team has played in League or Cup football.

André Green secures his 10th win in a Villa shirt on his 29th appearance (13 Starts) to make it W10 D6 L13, 1 Goal and 3 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Goalkeeper André Moreira makes his Villa debut aged 22 after joining on loan from Atlético Madrid earlier this month to become the 921st player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Midfielder Jake Doyle-Hayes makes his final appearance for Villa aged 19 before being released by the club in June 2020. Doyle-Hayes made 3 appearances for the club. 

Forward Harry McKirdy makes his sole unused substitute appearance in a Villa squad aged 21 before being released in May 2019. 

Villa miss a late penalty and are knocked out of the EFL Cup by League one Burton.

Albert Adomah makes his 75th start in a Villa shirt (90 Appearances) to make it W42 D22 L26, 18 Goals, 17 Assists, and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Goalkeeper André Moreira makes his second and final appearance for Villa before ending his loan spell in January 2019 and returning to Atlético Madrid. 

Right back Ritchie De Laet makes his 14th and final appearance for Villa (9 Starts) aged 29 before being released by the club in July 2019. De Laet left with a record of W6 D3 L5, 1 Assist and 2 Bookings in his three seasons with the club.

Axel Tuanzebe makes his 10th start for Villa (11 Appearances) to make it W4 D5 L2 so far in his Villa career.

Villa climb 6 places in the table as they win for the first time in six Championship games and for the first time since hitting an injury time winner in the second game of the season. 

The reaction from Steve Bruce to the win against a side who would be relegated at the season end simply underlined the concern that the Villa boss was no longer thinking clearly or objectively in his role.

Tammy Abraham scores his first goal and collects his first caution in a Villa shirt on his second appearance to make it W1 D1 L0, 1 Goal and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Yannick Bolasie scores his first goal in a Villa shirt on his second appearance (0 Starts) to make it W1 D1 L0 and 1 Goal so far in his Villa career.

Ørjan Nyland keeps his 1st clean sheet on his 7th appearance to make it W2 D4 L1, 11 Goals Conceded and 1 Clean Sheet so far in his Villa career.

Jonathan Kodjia contributes his 6th Assist in a Villa shirt on his 63rd appearance (52 Starts) to make it W27 D19 L17, 23 Goals, 6 Assists, 9 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Villa need an injury time goal for the fourth time this season to rescue a result but now have just one win in nine as madness descends at Villa Park and Steve Bruce departs.

Bruce had led Villa for 102 games, finished 13th and 4th in the EFL Championship table and been Championship Play Off Runners Up in 2017-18. 

Having 4 games earlier said “I’ve always wanted to play two up top and for some reason here, it hasn’t really happened. We’ve got the personnel to do it, you’ve seen that tonight, those two [Abraham and Kodjia] will be a threat for anybody.” Steve Bruce elected to take both his centre forwards off by the 74’ with Villa leading 2-1. 

Preston soon capitalised and within 12 minutes had opened up a 3-2 lead. With both his penalty takers off the field it was left to Glenn Whelan to take the 97’ spot kick awarded for a foul on Birkir Bjarnason. Whelan (73 appearances, 2 goals) missed. 

James Chester is sent off on his 107th appearance to make it W45 D32 L30, 7 Goals, 1 Assist, 13 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Birkir Bjarnason makes his 25th start in a Villa shirt (43 Appearances) to make it W23 D8 L12, 6 Goals, 3 Assists and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Goalkeeper Mark Bunn makes his 21st and final appearance for Villa (20 Starts) aged 33 before being released by the club in July 2019. On his return to the side for the first time in six months Bunn conceded 3 goals in a game with regular ‘keeper Ørjan Nyland on the bench. Nyland had conceded 14 goals in 13 games so far this season at a rate of 1.08 goals per game. It was these sort of decisions and the self absorbing commentary from him that ultimately cost Steve Bruce his job. Bunn left the club with a record of W5 D7 L9, 36 Goals Conceded, 5 Clean Sheets and 5 Bookings.

Jack Grealish collects his 20th booking in a Villa shirt on his 122nd Appearances (77 Starts) to make it W42 D27 L53, 9 Goals, 14 Assists, 20 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

Steve Bruce is sacked by Villa following the Preston draw as his reign comes to a pitiful and humiliating end involving a red face and a cabbage. Bruce had steadied the ship after five years of rapid decline under Houllier, McLeish, Lambert, Sherwood, Garde and Di Matteo and would take Villa within 90 minutes of promotion in 2017-18 whilst navigating a financial crisis. Despite that, his time at Villa would fall apart in 2018 and he would leave with a decent second tier record of 102 Games W46 D25 L31 at a rate of 1.60 points per game.

Villa, with the hapless Kevin MacDonald in charge as interim boss, lose at Millwall to leave them with a solitary win in ten Championship matches. 

Caretaker manager Kevin MacDonald takes charge of Villa for the third time following the departure of Martin O'Neill in 2010-11, Tim Sherwood in 2015-16 and now Steve Bruce in 2018-19.

Villa race to a two goal lead but are beaten by lucky Leeds in stoppage time and "From their celebrations, I thought they'd actually won the title."

Conor Hourihane makes his 75th start in a Villa shirt (87 Appearances) to make it W40 D20 L27, 16 Goals, 11 Assists and 14 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Villa win for the first time in four but now have just one defeat in nine under Dean Smith.

Glenn Whelan makes his 50th appearance in a Villa shirt (39 Starts) to make it W26 D14 L10, 2 Goals, 2 Assists and 7 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Birkir Bjarnason secures his 25th win in a Villa shirt on his 48th appearance (28 Starts) to make it W25 D8 L15, 6 Goals, 3 Assists and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

James Bree secures his 10th win in a Villa shirt on his 24th appearance (17 Starts) to make it W10 D5 L9, 0 Goals, 0 Assists and 0 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Villa are held at Deepdale but now have just one defeat in ten under Dean Smith as they end 2018 in highly satisfactory fashion after a difficult start to the season under Steve Bruce.

Alan Hutton collects his 40th booking in a Villa shirt on his 192nd appearance (178 Starts) to make it W57 D49 L86, 3 Goals, 8 Assists, 40 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Despite Tammy Abraham's 14th goal of the season Villa can only draw with Preston and finish the year in 9th place. Dean Smith's 2018 with Villa read P13 W6 D4 L3 compared to his predecessors' P13 W4 D5 L4.

Villa are held to a second successive draw as they are held on New Years' Day to leave them with one defeat and five wins in their last eleven Championship games.

But failing to win for the fifth time in six games means Villa fall back to 13th in the table with all the positives of the Dean Smith regime being overshadowed by such a lowly league placing.

Tammy Abraham scores his 15th goal on his 20th appearance in a Villa shirt to make it W7 D8 L5, 16 Goals, 1 Assists and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Birkir Bjarnason makes his 50th appearance in a Villa shirt (29 Starts) to make it W25 D10 L15, 6 Goals, 3 Assists and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Villa suffer a shock defeat in the third round of the FA Cup.

Goalkeeper Lovre Kalinić makes his Villa debut aged 28 after joining from KAA Gent for £5,400,000 earlier this month to become the 925th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

The Croatian international ‘keeper endures a torrid debut - conceding 3 goals including the first within 2 minutes of taking the field. 

Forward Callum O’Hare makes his final Villa appearance aged 20 before being released in June 2020. O’Hare made 9 appearances for the first team with a record of W3 D0 L5, 1 Assist and 2 Bookings before spending two spells out on loan with Coventry City. 

Centre forward Keinan Davis makes his first appearance of the season as a 72’ substitute following injury which had kept him out of contention since March 2018 so far in his Villa career.

Scott Hogan made his 61st and final appearance (32 Starts) of a curiously barren spell in a Villa shirt. With huge expanses of time between goals and record, bar a 5 game scoring streak in January 2018, Villa's return on investment in Hogan can be described as nothing other than pitiful with a record of W27 D11 L23, 10 Goals, 4 Assists and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career. In League football - all that really mattered - Hogan's performance was P57, Scored 7.

Villa lose badly for the second game in all competitions as Dean Smith suffers his first real set-back to leave Villa with five wins, five draws and two defeats in their last twelve Championship matches. 

Centre back Kortney Hause makes his Villa debut aged 23 after joining on loan to the end of the season from Wolverhampton Wanderers earlier this month to become the 926th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

James Bree makes his 28th and final appearance in a Villa shirt (21 Starts) to leave with a record of W10 D7 L11, 0 Goals, 0 Assists and 0 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Goalkeeper Lovre Kalinić’s nightmare start to his Villa career continues as despite some good showings during the match he concedes three goals once again to make it 6 concessions in 2 games and a record of W0 D0 L2 so far in his Villa career.