Freddie Sears netted his sixth goal of the season as the Blues were beaten 2-1 at Aston Villa but could count themselves unlucky not to have claimed a point after a late fightback in which Trevoh Chalobah struck the post and they were denied a penalty. Tammy Abraham put the Villans in front in the sixth minute, then doubled the lead via a hugely controversial penalty on 61. Tommy Elphick appeared to handle a goalbound Collin Quaner effort inside the box before Sears pulled one back on 76 and then Chalobah and Town were denied by the woodwork.

Town boss Paul Lambert made three changes on his return to the club he managed between 2012 and 2015 with Bartosz Bialkowski, Myles Kenlock and Flynn Downes all starting.

Bialkowski returned in goal for Dean Gerken, who dropped to the bench, while Kenlock came in for Callum Elder at left-back with the Australian also among the subs.

At the centre of the defence James Collins, facing his old club, was at centre-half alongside Luke Chambers. Downes took his place in a three-man midfield with Cole Skuse and Chalobah.

Will Keane started as the central striker with Alan Judge on the left and Sears on the right with Quaner also moving to the bench.

Villa made two changes with Glenn Whelan and Anwar El Ghazi coming into the team for Birkir Bjarnason, who was missing from the 18, and Yannick Bolasie, whose loan from Everton has been cut short, while Mile Jedinak was back on the bench after injury. Ex-Blues midfielder Conor Hourihane started.

The home side dominated possession in the early stages with Town unable to get out of their own half. On four, John McGinn blazed over with a shot from just outside the area.

But two minutes later, Villa took the lead. Hourihane whipped a low freekick - conceded after Chalobah had sent El Ghazi tumbling - in from the left, Bialkowski hesitated on his line and Abraham got ahead of the Blues’ defenders to volley his 18th goal of the season into the roof of the net from four yards out.

With rain beginning fall steadily, Villa immediately began looking for a second with the Blues repeatedly getting themselves into difficulties when trying to play out from the back.

However, on 10, Keane caught James Chester in possession midway inside the Villa half and brought the ball forward before eventually finding Judge, but the Irishman’s low shot lacked power and Lovre Kalinic in the Villa goal was able to claim comfortably.

Town began to see more of the ball but on 14 Kenlock surrendered possession to McGinn, pulled the Scotland international back and was shown the afternoon’s first yellow card.

The Blues continued to see a lot of the ball but mainly in unthreatening areas while still looking very shaky and inviting trouble when trying to pass it out from their own box.

On 22 Chalobah was halted in his tracks by Chester has he burst into the area with Town starting to make some headway.

Five minutes later, El Ghazi was yellow-carded for a late challenge on Collins after the Welshman had ended a Villa break on the edge of the Blues box.

The home side began to take control again and just after the half-hour mark they had the ball in the net for a second time, however, with the linesman’s flag having been raised.

McGinn had got away from Downes on the right and hit a low shot from the edge of the box which Bialkowski did well to bat away from goal to his left. Albert Adomah, who scored twice in last year’s corresponding fixture, reached it first and slammed into the net but having strayed offside.

The Blues were again finding themselves under pressure and on 33 Alan Hutton crossed from the right. McGinn’s first effort was blocked, then his second scuffed through to Bialkowski.

Two minutes later Hourihane shot from distance and Bialkowski scampered away to his left to claim at the second attempt ahead of Adomah.

Abraham will feel he should have scored his second of the afternoon in the 36th minute when he was found in space on the left of the box by Adomah. With time to pick his spot, the on-loan Chelsea man struck his effort too close to Bialkowski, who palmed away to his left.

Town successfully defended a freekick taken from the same position as Villa’s earlier goal on 38 and broke quickly, Chalobah finding Sears on the right. The Blues’ on-loan Chelsea youngster eventually hit a shot from the edge of the box but was unable to get any power on it and the effort was blocked.

Two minutes later, McGinn hit a low strike from distance which Bialkowski was unable to hold on to but Collins was there first to stab behind. On 42 Hourihane hit a low 20-yard freekick through the wall which Bialkowski was able to claim with ease.

In the final scheduled minute before the break Keane again won the ball after some Villa hesitancy but was eventually crowded out, however, the ball was cleared straight to Chalobah, who hit a low shot which failed to trouble Kalinic.

Town were probably fortunate to be just the single goal down with the half having largely been one-way traffic with Villa moving the ball around slickly and confidently and having a number of opportunities to increase their lead.

The Blues had started to see more of the ball midway through the half but rarely in dangerous areas and Kalinic in the Villa goal had had a comfortable first 45 minutes, even if his backline had shown an occasional tendency to gift the ball in dangerous areas, something Town might well have profited from.

Town, who needed to up their game significantly in the second half if they were to avoid their sixth successive away defeat, were under the cosh from the off after the break.

With the persistent rain if anything now falling even harder, Abraham headed a 47th minute Adomah cross from the right straight at Bialkowski who again failed to hold on. Once more Collins was first to it but the ex-Villa man scuffed away but the danger was eventually cleared.

Two minutes later, Sears shot over from the edge of the Villa box, then on 51 El Ghazi blasted well over from distance for the Midlanders.

Villa came close to doubling their lead in the 53rd minute when McGinn diverted Hutton’s cross from the right only just over the bar after the Blues had made heavy weather of getting the ball away from danger.

Town had started to see more of the ball again but still without seriously threatening when Villa were awarded a penalty in the 61st minute, the fourth the Blues have conceded in five league games from which the home side increased their lead.

A corner from the right looked like it was going nowhere at the back of the box where McGinn went to ground as Judge looked to turn away from him, get on the ball and take it out of the box.

The recent signing looked aghast at what was yet another soft penalty decision and the Town players argued long and hard with referee Keith Stroud to no avail.

Abraham confidently beat Bialkowski from the spot to hit the 19-goal mark and give the scoreline an all-to-familiar look for the 1,092-strong travelling Blues support.

Town swapped Keane for Quaner, a change they had been looking to make since before the goal, but found themselves under more and more pressure from a Villa side by now with their tails well and truly up.

On 65 Bialkowski turned an Abraham cross over his bar, before Ahmed Elmohamady took over from Adomah for the home side.

Town almost pulled a goal back in the 73rd minute when Downes lofted a pass over the Villa backline for Quaner. The on-loan Huddersfield man took the ball round the keeper but Tommy Elphick slid in to block with what looked to be a hand. However, as had often been the case throughout the afternoon, referee Stroud’s decision went against the Blues’ significant protests.

Three minutes later, their five-game away goal drought did come to an end. Judge allowed a ball from the left to run past him just outside the box to Downes but behind the midfielder, who turned it back to Sears. The ex-West Ham man took a touch before smashing a brilliant strike past Kalinic to his left and into the top corner of the net.

Sears’s sixth goal of the season roused the previously quietened Town support and put more of a spring in the players’ step. Neil Taylor was forced to concede a corner on the right and from the flag-kick Pennington headed over.

The Blues came within a whisker of levelling in the 80th minute when Judge whipped over a freekick from the right and Chalobah flicked a header across goal and off the far post.

A minute later Quaner went down looking in some pain after a McGinn challenge but after treatment was able to carry on.

Hourihane was booked for a foul on Chalobah as Town broke, then on 85 Bialkowski saved low down to his left from Abraham from the edge of the box as the striker looked for his hat-trick.

Abraham thought he had grabbed that third of the afternoon in the 88th minute only to find Bialkowski in his way. The Chelsea loanee was found in space at the far post by a low ball from the left but the Polish international somehow threw himself across goal to block superbly.

McGinn shot low but weakly from distance with Villa putting the Blues under pressure as the fourth official indicated four additional minutes. Deep in injury time Kayden Jackson took over from Chalobah.

Aside from a thwarted Quaner run, Town were unable to find an equaliser in the remaining minutes and succumbed to another away defeat, although ultimately one from which they were unfortunate not to claim a point.

While Villa might well have been out of sight earlier on in the game, once they were two goals down the Blues battled back - with Quaner making a big impact after coming on - and were unlucky that Chalobah’s header struck the post and referee Stroud waved away what looked to be valid protests regarding Elphick’s handball, just as the official did with a similar incident at Blackburn last week.

Probably even more galling was the earlier penalty award to Villa, which video evidence showed was as soft as they come with McGinn’s fall to ground having little to do with any contact made by Judge.

Elsewhere, Rotherham were beaten 2-1 at home by Leeds so the gap remains seven points but with Bolton hosting Reading on Tuesday.

Town’s next opportunity to make up some ground to the sides above them is next Saturday when Sheffield Wednesday are at Portman Road.

Aston Villa: Kalinic, Taylor, Chester, Whelan (Kodjia 78), McGinn, Hourihane, Abraham, Hutton, El Ghazi (Jedinak 85), Elphick, Adomah (Elmohamady 68). Unused: Steer, Davis, Hause, O’Hare.

Town: Bialkowski, Pennington, Chambers, Collins, Kenlock, Chalobah (Jackson 90), Skuse, Downes, Judge, Sears, Keane (Quaner 62). Unused: Gerken, Nolan, Bishop, Nsiala, Elder. Referee: Keith Stroud (Hampshire). Att: 33,653 (Town: 1,092).

Photo: Action Images

Cakeman added 20:20 - Jan 26 Sadly the rub of the green never goes with teams at the bottom. Hopefully the tide will turn one day. PS bring Andy D'Urso back. He was brilliant compared to the modern day clowns officiating these days!
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busterjames1 added 20:29 - Jan 26 What has happened to Bart ? Our new goalkeeper coach has not installed any confidence in Bart and Gerks is no better!
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tractorollson added 20:48 - Jan 26 Only delaying the inevitable, i just hope we get players in and if not PL a manager who can win games, i fear we may be in league one for a few years if we keep this squad
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BlueandTruesince82 added 20:51 - Jan 26 Another game another iffy decision, I'm not laying all the blame there, we are crap but the standard of officiating has plummeted, its insane but no one can criticise the refs, regardless of a mole like blindness .. how many times this season has a shocking decision lead to us conceding, yes we should deal with some of those resulting situations better but come on..... I swear we are cursed, between injury and the refs we have been on a run of luck for 3 years that would have put most casinos out of business

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dirtydingusmagee added 21:22 - Jan 26 another match nearer Lge I , THATS ALL.
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KiwiTractor added 23:40 - Jan 26 Does PL know he can use subs?
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runaround added 00:48 - Jan 27 The relegation coffin had, in all honesty, been closed for a while but today the final nail was hammered in. Bad long term injuries to the players we have who can create things, lack of match sharpness for the new players, decisions not going our way plus the overriding factor, we just aren't good enough. Lambert & the players will continue to give their all as will the fans whose support this season has been magnificent & something to be rightfully proud off. But we are going to be in the third tier of English football next season for first time in over 60 years. It's heartbreaking to see but the hope is that the club seems to be pulling together with fans, management, coaches, players and even the owner focused on moving forward. I do believe Lambert is more than capable of getting us promoted next season as long as he has the right players available next season on the pitch rather than the physio room & importantly players who want to be here. I suspect there will be more pain this season especially once the inevitable relegation is confirmed but hopefully then we can push forward

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barrystedmunds added 00:57 - Jan 27 Swn98, he's long gone; get over it, move on, for f#@ks sake! He was not, and was never, the messiah!
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chepstowblue added 02:27 - Jan 27 Though a decent effort today we deserved nothing.We simply aren't good enough Meaningless possession in our own half at a ime when we were supposedly chasing the game.Just no urgency,and an inability to get players forward quickly enough to support the front man. Bart frightens the life out of me.Other than a reaction save late on he was rooted for the 1st goal.That ball was volleyed in from 3yrds out....it should have been his.He then proceeded to spill the next 5 shots,all of which were tame. A keeper with a combination of rubber hands and chest right now.Kenlock was very poor,the sloppiest of all with his wayward passing.Bishops omission is mind boggling. A forward thinking midfielder who sits on the bench whilst 3 others who very rarely venture into the opposing half play the full 90.My fear for this season has long gone as our fate was inevitable in November.But i genuinely worry for the next.We have very little foundation being laid. There appears to be no improvement and no plan.A reliance on short term loan signings and a group of our own registered players who won't be anything other than ordinary in league 1 I'd be truly amazed if we push for the play offs with what is currently on offer 2 other things that were confirmed at Villa park today (1) we should never attempt to play out from the back ever again as we look bl**dy stupid pretending to be Barcelona (2) Keith Stroud is almost certainly the worse referee that ive ever witnessed.In 1981 I experienced one of my greatest nights as a Town fan at Villa park.Today was like every other away match ive been to this season.A token gesture of a performance from a team that knows deep down that the game is up.

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shakytown added 03:43 - Jan 27 Sorry to say but blaming the ref just a waste of time. Just have a look at our players . They spend most of their time ball watching rather that moving into space or supporting each other. They say there is no I in team but here is in ours ShIIIIIIIIIte.
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Dissboyitfc added 08:00 - Jan 27 2 shocking Decisions, was at the game and couldnt see the penalty they were awarded, but having watched it back its an unbelievably soft decision by the ref. Our shout i did see and i was right in line with it as was the referees assistant a shocking decision not to award it! But i have to say it was a bad day for good decisions out on the pitch, the first bad one was Barts indecision to come out for the free kick, i was in line with the six yard area, you could see he thought about going then changed his mind, had he have gone for it he would have got it! From that moment we were chasing the game! he did make some good saves throughout the game and glad he is back! Decision making is where our keepers fall, both can be great shot stoppers ( reflex saves ) but if they have time to think its another story. Villa were the better team until they went 2-0 up then i thought we were on top especially after we scored. Final point, Dean Smith would be fuming if those penalty decisions cost his team, they certainly cost us, its fine margins that are costing us, had the ref got the penalty shouts correct we could now be sitting 4 points from safety!

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Zondervantheman added 08:03 - Jan 27 What we need is an experienced league 1 striker who has scored 14 goals this season and has a physical presence, and also played in the championship. Kieffer Moore anyone?????
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Dissboyitfc added 08:06 - Jan 27 Just a couple of bullet points, Judge looked really good as did Quaner when he came on, Collins has amazing vision, lovely to see him win the ball in defence and as quick as a flash pick out a long range cross field pass with perfect accuracy! Skuse is not playing well at all. Pennington looks so much better than Spence!
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ArnieM added 09:00 - Jan 27 Many players needing to be off loaded in the summer , and that includes Bart man. Absolutely abysmal position for first goal , never moved a millimetre from his line when that cross came in . And he couldn't catch a dose of clap in a brothel if he tried. Effing usesless!
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wezley53 added 09:15 - Jan 27 For christ sake get a goalkeeper quick.
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KiwiTractor added 09:30 - Jan 27 Make that... Does PL know he can use THREE subs?
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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 09:58 - Jan 27 That Vanilla should have won by three clear goals at least and that we wuz robbed by poor refereeing decisions are two different things. Smith illogically tries to justify his victory by emphasising the former. But Villa's inability to put the ball in the net when they had the chances is finally down to their own lack of quality, whereas there was nothing our players could do about two very dodgy penalty controversies. On another tack, I'm really glad PL has given us our club back, and I think he understands how fans feel and what is important for them. But it will be difficult to take his constant optimism seriously the longer the season goes on. We are not much better now than when PL came in - many probably hoped for more improvement - and I can't see much changing before the summer. Don't get me wrong. I am fully supportive of PL, but I think it's time to be a little more realistic about our position and look to the future. At some point fairly soon, I think he will have to admit the inevitable to maintain credibility. Then I hope we can keep the great support and feeling of togetherness going in Div. 1.

1

ITFCsince73 added 12:21 - Jan 27 Maybe time for captain calamity to be dropped....or dare I say stripped of the captaincy. The worst captain of town in living memory. Our current position proves that to be correct. The worst centre back in English professional football can be used as another reason.
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warktheline added 13:07 - Jan 27 Defensively minded midfield is brought upon the bases of protecting an extremely vulnerable defence, which of course has and continues include Chambers! The defence has over time seen different personnel but through it's different formats, shapes and designs, one man has always been in attendance, yes ‘one of our own' Skipper Chambers, with his fists pumping and ‘losing siege mentality ‘! Surely time to move on, or will the Captain outlast another ‘blind' manager! It wouldn't surprise me if eventually the man becomes player manager assisted by ‘best buddy' Skuse!

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Swn98 added 14:58 - Jan 27 barrystedmunds And what a fine mess we are in
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blueboy1981 added 15:40 - Jan 27 ......... blame mentality !! - some surely in need of reminding that there are 10 more players on the pitch other than Chambers. Let's blame Chambers for everything should we ? - PATHETIC analogy, but no more than expected from some.
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ian_marshall added 15:43 - Jan 27 Some real positives from yesterday, great goal from Freddie! We are not getting hammered and not giving up, no luck with ref yesterday but hopefully it will even out with a dodgy pen at Carrott road, strongly believe we will stay up! Coyb
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blueboy1981 added 15:43 - Jan 27 ........ that Referee should never be in charge of a professional game again - what I saw there was not even local Sunday League standard of refereeing, for even a Class 3 Referee. Hang your pathetic head in shame Referee. You were a JOKE.
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DifferentGravy added 16:02 - Jan 27 Its a day later and Im still angry. I thought I would have calmed down by now. Firstly, in the predicament town are in, the last thing you want to do is give a soft goal away. How difficult is it to stay GOALSIDE of the player you are marking at a set piece!?! Town are in their own box so its not as if theyre playing the offside. I wouldn't expect that sort of defending at county league level. Yes, players are short on confidence and make mistakes ON the ball...… but for crying out loud.....mark the player!!! How can we possibly work our way into a game when we are always gifting goals. Arm round the shoulder......words of encouragement......or a bloody good kick up the jacksy. I would rather put in under 18 defenders and lose by 5 if the lads were purely beaten by skill and quality. These first teamers are paid good money.....they should be earning it. Bloody furious I am. I don't give a toss if Chambers(and the rest of defence) is a good bloke, wears the armband with pride.....if you cant do the job, hold your hand up and lets put someone else in who will do the basics......Communication, marking and not giving silly fouls away on the edge of the box. As for the penalty not given and the penalty against...…..ludicrous. That is what happens when youre at the bottom of the league. Whilst im having a rant I will take this opportunity to absolutely slate out team kits. I wouldn't wanna play in it either. Go back to the early 80s style. The badge had blue white and a hint on yellow(the ground still reflects these colours). Lets get back to a kit we can be proud of. Not that hideous gambling logo, no coincidence our league position reflects our current kit.....awful Rant over, lets move on to next Saturday. PLAY A 4-4-2 LAMBERT AND LETS GET AT THEM.

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ITFCsince73 added 16:45 - Jan 27 Well said Diffrentgravy. Very true words of current situation. Some to blind to see.
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