Villa win for the second time in five and first win in four to make it fifteen wins, fourteen draws and eleven defeats in forty League matches this season under Ron Saunders.

Villa are forced to raid the reserves again and field a side of whom seven are under the age of 21. 

Villa remain joint 5th with five games to play, three points clear of 6th and three points behind fourth.

Such is the desperate need for bodies that centre back Noel Blake, 18, is selected to make his Villa debut after joining from Sutton Town in December 1978 and coming through the youth ranks to become the 614th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Gordon Cowans scores his 20th goal in a Villa shirt on his 157th appearance (142 Starts) to make it W66 D45 L46, 20 Goals and 18 Assists at a goal involvement rate of one for every 4.13 games he has played so far in his Villa career.

Villa win for the second game in succession and make it sixteen wins, fourteen draws and eleven defeats in forty one Division One matches this season under Ron Saunders.

Villa are again forced to play Noel Blake who would otherwise be nowhere near first team football but in a hugely edifying battle of youngsters, Villa field a team with an average outfield age of 20, whilst Coventry have five under 21 players in their side - with both Midlands clubs eschewing the norm of imported and ageing squads. 

Both teams put on a fine attacking display that Villa won to remain joint fifth in the first division table with one game left to play. 

Villa face champions Liverpool on the final day and the youngsters are unsurprisingly beaten to leave Villa in fifth place but the final table is incomplete with Forest, a point behind still having three games to play, whilst Wolves have two. 

When the final games are completed Villa sit 7th in the table falling behind Forest and Wolves in the final round of matches.

Villa finish the campaign with sixteen wins, fourteen draws and twelve defeats in forty two Division One matches under Ron Saunders having been forced in the early months to play without stars Andy Gray and John Gidman, before losing John Deehan and then in the latter stages of the campaign suffering an injury crisis so severe that the club were forced to play 18 year old centre back Noel Blake in the final 3 games of the season.

A third successive League defeat and Villa are a "faded force", "running around in circles" and "getting nowhere". 

Reigning Champions Villa lose a third successive Division One game to make it four wins, seven draws and seven defeats in their title defence. 

Meanwhile, Noel Blake made his final appearance for Villa having played just four times for the club between 1979-80 and 1981-82. Blake moved to Birmingham City for a fee of £55,000 in September 1982.