Villa's pride was dented again last night as Derby County ruthlessly dismissed them from the Simod Cup.

For the second time in four days Graham Taylor's ambitious newcomers tested themselves against their old Midlands rivals and found themselves wanting and short on several counts.

Three successive defeats and seven goals conceded is evidence enough that a flaw has appeared in the Villa jewel. Their hopes of achieving a top-six place in Division One this season were made to look optimistic, to say the least, as Derby swiftly set about putting the pretenders in their place again.

In fact, on the evidence of the two games, Villa will not even finish top of the Midlands pack of Derby, Coventry and Nottingham Forest, let alone challenge the First Division's big boys.

Indeed, if you take away the power of Alan Mclnally and the occasional deft touches of Gordon Cowans, Villa were made to look a very ordinary outfit.

In one brief period before halftime McInallly even appeared as ff he was waging a one-man war against County and England goalkeeper Peter Shilton.

It came after Villa trailed to a daft third minute goal from Gary Micklewhite with the powerful Scot blasting his way past two defenders to beat Shilton with a fearsome 25-yard right-foot drive in the 42nd minute.

In the space of the next five minutes Mclnally scuffed an intended left-foot shot across County's goal for a throw-in before unleashing a 20-yard belter which Shilton only just tipped away for a corner.

Sadly, Villa had nobody else with the same explosive passion and not even Garry Thompson could find the spark to lift his game as he went in the shop window after turning down £350,000 moves to Oxford United and Wimbledon last week.

Apart from narrowly being beaten in a challenge by Shilton, after Kevin Gage had slotted a through ball into the penalty area, one of his only other significant contributions was to get himself booked for a flying two-footed tackle on Paul Blades.

But Villa's real problems began and finished in defence with Taylor admitting that they had given away two "sloppy goals" at crucial times.

Transfer-listed Micklewhite's first came after Bernie Gallacher had been turned inside out for the second time by tricky winger Ted McMinn before Trevor Hebberd crossed from the right. Paul Goddard lost the ball under his feet and Micklewhite merely had to prod it Into the net.

His second two minutes into the second-half was just as messy from Villa's point of view with the winger slipping as he received a ball from Dean Saunders but still managing to get up and turn Chris Price before hitting his shot wide of Nigel Spink.

Skipper Allan Evans was tactically removed from the fray in an hour after the big central defender had accidentally collided with Paul Goddard ten minutes earlier. The striker was carried off with a thigh injury which removed half the threat of County's strike force.

When somebody said: "Never mind Graham, it's only the Simod Cup," Taylor replied: "I do mind. We're not going to win the League, are we."