Villa’s slender title chances appeared to be ebbing away as they laboured against Brighton, but they secured the points when Brighton’s Jack Hinshelwood scored into his own goal after 86 minutes.

Brighton midfielder James Milner, 40, came off the bench for his 653rd top-flight appearance, equalling Gareth Barry’s record.

Nottingham Forest squandered a chance to put some distance between themselves and the bottom three as they drew 0-0 at home to bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Despite a remarkable 35 goal attempts at the City Ground, Forest were unable to find the back of the net, dropping two important points.

The draw left Forest in 17th place, only three points above third-from-bottom West Ham United. Wolves have nine points but are now only two points behind the lowest-ever Premier League total -Derby County’s 11 in the 2007-08 season.