A second win in three games suggests a platform for progression is being built but far from it as the victory is barely merited. 

Meanwhile the disastrous signing of Dave Hickson is curtailed early with the player having contributed more brawls than goals in a Villa shirt.

Villa's win, their third of the season, keeps them just above the relegation places with a long hard winter ahead.

Eric Houghton's Villa make it three wins, seven draws and seven losses in seventeen games this season. 

Centre forward Dave Hickson makes his twelfth and final appearance for Villa before moving to Huddersfield Town later this month. Hickson had only joined Villa two months earlier but had proven a seriously misguided signing under another mistep from Eric Houghton,