Roberto Di Matteo says Aston Villa must learn to keep hold of leads if they are to gain automatic promotion after a late draw with Brentford.

The Villa boss saw his side go ahead but fail to win a Sky Bet Championship match for the fourth time this campaign on Wednesday night as John Egan’s late goal rescued a 1-1 draw for the Bees,

It leaves Villa 17th in the table, nine points behind leaders Huddersfield and eight adrift of title favourites Newcastle.

Di Matteo, whose team led through Jonathan Kodjia’s first goal for the club, said: “Obviously we are not happy with the result and the second half as well. We’ve lost two points.

“We have to work through it. It looks like there is a barrier we have to break through as when we go into a lead we’ve not managed to see it out

“We need to work through it, there’s no other solution. We will analyse things and talk about it but the only way to overcome it is to go on and win a game 1-0 or 2-1 or whatever it is and see a lead out.

“Of course we are conscious [of the gap] but it is still early on. We need a win under our belts and that will help us massively to break some of those barriers we are carrying with us.

“The Championship is a marathon and there are so many games and also if not automatic (promotion) we can go through play-offs as well.”

Kodjia’s 19th-minute goal brought the majority of a subdued Villa Park to its feet, although there was one Villa fan who would not have been so impressed.

Brentford boss Dean Smith is a boyhood Villa supporter who earned his match ticket during the club’s heyday of the early 1980s cleaning seats in the Holte End with his father, who was a steward at the stadium, and it was not the start he was looking for from his team.

He vigorously celebrated Egan’s 88th-minute leveller and said afterwards: “My mates who are Villa fans all asked me if I was going to celebrate and I think that gave them the answer.

“I’m from the area and everyone knows I grew up as an Aston Villa fan so it’s a great experience for me. If we’d have lost, it would have meant nothing.

“I thought it was the least we deserved in the end, if I’m honest. I thought we were excellent in the second half and dominated the game. I was disappointed with their goal but I guess that’s what £15m gets you. He’s cut inside and stuck one in the top bin.

“I thought to a man we were excellent and in the second half we thoroughly deserved it.”