Villa lose for the first time in 7 games under John Gregory as they suffer a surprise defeat to relegation threatened Bolton but remain 8th in the table.

Centre forward Savo Milošević, 24, makes his 117th and final appearance in a Villa shirt (110 Starts) before moving on to Real Zaragoza in July 1998 leaving after a highly eventful spell with a record of W53 D30 L34, 34 Goals, 14 Assists and 15 Bookings at a Goal per Game rate of one for every 3.44 games played and a goal involvement rate of one for every 2.44 games played across his 3 seasons with Villa.

Left back Steve Staunton, 29, makes the final appearance of his first spell with Villa before returning to Liverpool in July 1997 on a free transfer. Staunton made 261 appearances in a Villa shirt (253 Starts) between 1991-92 and 1997-98 but allowed his contract to run down to facilitate a return to Liverpool. Staunton would leave with a record of W112 D70 L79, 19 Goals, 30 Assists, 16 Goals and 1 Red Card before returning in 2000.

Julian Joachim makes his 25th start in a Villa shirt (56 Appearances) to make it W19 D10 L27, 11 Goals and 2 Assists at a goal involvement rate of one for every 4.31 games played so far in his Villa career.

Alan Wright contributes his 10th assist in a Villa shirt on his 152nd appearance (150 Starts) to make it W69 D37 L46, 3 Goals, 10 Assists and 6 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Former Villa full back Neil Cox scores the opening goal for his new club and future Villa midfielder Alan Thompson lined up for Bolton.