FULL TIME: Stoke 0-1 Aston Villa

Paul Lambert's back-to-the-future tactics pay off as Aston Villa win at the Britannia.

Lambert hands Alan Hutton his first Villa appearance in two years and also brings back Darren Bent to his squad following last season's exile to earn a deserved win over Stoke.

Lambert also went with some old hands over youth, handing debuts to Philippe Senderos and Kieran Richardson, and they contributed to his morale-boosting win, courtesy of Andreas Weimann's 50th-minute goal.


Mark Hughes' policy of trying to introduce a positive new era at Stoke fails and his fresh-looking side fade badly after a bright start.

Bojan shows some nice flashes, but does not have a big enough impact on the game, while Mame Biram Diouf does not justify his selection ahead of Peter Crouch.

Villa create more, while Stoke's defending for Weimann's goal will leave Hughes - and Begovic, who is badly at fault - with nightmares.

Credit: Mirror

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