Mansfield Town 1 Aston Villa 3
Darren Bent announced his Villa return with a bang as the bomb squad were officially defused.
The £24m striker scored twice in the claret and blues' 3-1 win at Mansfield.
It marked his comeback following last season on loan at Fulham and he will be part of Lambert's squad this term after coming in from the cold.
Alan Hutton, Shay Given and Charles N'Zogbia also featured in Villa's opening pre-season game.
Alex Fisher headed Mansfield into a first-half lead but Bent, a half time substitute, levelled from close range.
Gary Gardner fired Villa ahead in the 85th minute before Bent added a third in stoppage time.
Newboys Joe Cole and Kieran Richardson featured while Ron Vlaar, Philippe Senderos and Brad Guzan are yet to return after the World Cup.
Joe Bennett's early effort was cleared off the line after Leandro Bacuna scrambled behind the Mansfield defence while Ollie Palmer fired wide for the hosts.
Villa dictated the early play with Joe Cole trying to be their creator-in-chief and he twice slipped in Bacuna but the Dutchman was denied by the Stags' trialist keeper.
And it was the League Two side who broke the deadlock on 41 minutes when Fisher nodded in John Dempster's flick.
Villa changed their entire team at the break with Richardson making his first appearance since signing from Fulham.
Gary Gardner's free kick flew off target as Villa's second half team struggled to find a rhythm.
But they levelled on 61 minutes when Hutton escaped down the right and crossed for Bent to tap in from two yards.
The England striker was denied twice soon after as the claret and blues began to up their game with 15 minutes left.
Karim El Ahmadi's drive flew wide and Gardner made it 2-1 when he poked in following fine play by Bent and Andi Weimann.
Bent grabbed his second in injury time when he nodded in from five yards from Weimann's cross.
