*Aston Villa’s first game in the second tier since 1988 ended in defeat as Fernando Forestieri’s late goal gave Sheffield Wednesday victory in their Championship opener at Hillsborough.*

Forestieri pounced on a poor clearance by Villa goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini to slot in an 85th-minute winner.

Roberto di Matteo’s Villa improved as the game progressed after a slow start.

They looked on course for a point until Forestieri’s intervention for last season’s beaten play-off finalists.

Gollini had twice denied the Italian forward during the second period but was powerless to rectify his kicking error as Forestieri raced clear before finishing coolly into the corner of the net.

Jordan Ayew and Rudy Gestede both had headers saved and Ashley Westwood also drilled two long-range shots just wide as Villa, aiming to return to the Premier League at the first attempt under new boss Di Matteo, made a creditable but ultimately pointless start to life in the Championship.

Chances were scarce during a cagey first period, which was interrupted for five minutes while Owls debutant Steven Fletcher and Villa captain Tommy Elphick received treatment following a nasty clash of heads.

Scotland striker Fletcher required 10 stitches in a head wound and was unable to continue.

Villa’s new £12m front man Ross McCormack was denied a debut goal by Tom Lees’ last-ditch tackle shortly before his withdrawal after 77 minutes.

*Aston Villa boss Roberto di Matteo told BBC WM:*

”With 10 minutes to go, you’re away from home against a good side, you’d like to see the game out. If you can’t win it, don’t lose it.

“Unfortunately it was an error from us that gave them the goal, but I thought that in the second half we were a very good team and had some excellent opportunities to score.

“It’s very harsh for us to take because I’d like the opposition to do something special to score, rather than give them a goal.

“We have to learn from this situation - we’ve only been together for five weeks and you can see they’ve been together for a much longer time.”