Aston Villa Reserves 1 Blackburn Rovers Reserves 2

NATHAN Blake and Egil Ostenstad warmed up for Saturday's clash against QPR with a goal apiece against a strong Villa side at Villa Park last night.

Steve Harkness, Darren Peacock, Keith Gillespie and Damien Johnson all returned for Rovers after injury and illness while Jason McAteer got another 90 minutes under his belt to give Brian Kidd a welcome boost.

And with the likes of Stan Collymore, Paul Merson and Steve Stone all included in the Villa line-up, it made for an exciting contest.

It was Rovers who looked the sharper in the first half and David Dunn nearly put them in front after 10 minutes but his angled shot rattled the crossbar.

Blake and Ostenstad, who posed a threat all night, both forced saves out of the Villa keeper before Rovers took the lead after the break.

Great build up play between Dunn and Ostenstad released Blake and the former Bolton hit-man thundered home a fierce shot. Rovers made it 2-0 midway through the half when another free-flowing move put Ostenstad clear and the Norwegian made no mistake.

Wayne Gill replaced Gillespie in the final 15 minutes as Villa began to get on top.

And Merson pulled one back for the home side in the closing stages.

But the Rovers defence held firm in the dying minutes to seal a welcome win which delighted reserve team boss Terry Darracott.

He said: "We played with a really good attitude, we played some great football and we could have won by a couple of goals more."

Rovers: Kelly, Grayson, Harkness, McAteer, Peacock, Taylor, Gillespie, Dunn, Ostenstad, Blake, Johnson. Subs: Gill (for Gillespie, 75) not used: Williams, Murphy, Richardson and Thomas.

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