Steve Bruce continued his unbeaten run with Aston Villa, but they were held to a 1-1 draw by Brighton at the Amex in the Sky Bet Championship.

Nathan Baker headed Villa in front after 20 minutes on Friday night before the Seagulls pulled level through a fine Glenn Murray effort on the stroke of half-time.

Brighton may have dominated possession on the night, but it was Villa who had the of the better chances. Unfortunately for the away fans, though, they could not find another breakthrough and Bruce added a third draw to his three wins from six games in charge.

Brighton, meanwhile, closed the gap on league leaders Newcastle, but the Magpies could extend the gap to five points when they play away a tLeeds on Sunday, live on Sky Sports.

Brighton started the better of the two sides, but it was Villa who opened the scoring thanks to Baker’s header with the first real chance of the game after 20 minutes.

Villa had not really got forward until they won a free-kick 35 yards out, and Albert Adomah’s floated ball in found the head of Baker, who rose highest in the area to glance the ball past David Stockdale.

The home side continued to push forward but struggled to get their front two of Murray and Sam Baldock into the game until the 44th minute when the pair combined to devastating effect.

First, Murray received the ball from Steve Sidwellthen played a lovely one-two with Baldock before firing into the bottom corner with a fierce low strike from the edge of the area for his 150th league goal.

The second half started at breakneck pace as both sides pushed for the next goal, and it was Murray who went closest just after the hour, heading narrowly over the bar for Brighton after Baldock had lifted the ball into his path.

Villa boss Bruce threw on Jack Grealish midway through the second half and the young midfielder made an immediate impact as his quality on the ball helped the away side to dominate.

In a period of pressure, Grealish saw two shots from the edge of the area deflected narrowly wide, while Jonathan Kodjia rattled the crossbar with one header before forcing a fine fingertip save from David Stockdale with another.

Brighton substitute Jamie Murphy then forced a fine save from Pierluigi Gollini late on, but it was Villa who always looked the more likely to score again.

Chris Hughton’s side held on, though, and Villa missed their chance to climb into the top half of the table, sitting in 13th ahead of the rest of the weekend’s action.