Aston Villa 3 Wigan 2 - player ratings

Here we rate the players after Birkir Bjarnason’s late goal earned Villa another three points.

Orjan Nyland

A difficult debut for the Norwegian international. The manner of Wigan’s equaliser visibly knocked his confidence and he looked uncertain when dealing with crosses in the second half. Will get better. 5/10.

Axel Tuanzebe

A mixed bag of an afternoon for the on loan Manchester United man. There is no doubting Tuanzebe’s pace yet he understandably seemed to be lacking a little in sharpness. Should improve with time. 6/10.

James Chester

Villa’s Mr Dependable has begun the current season where he finished the last. Opened the scoring when he showed the greater desire to beat Wigan keeper Walton to the ball. 7/10.

Mile Jedinak

The Australian international will be a key man again this season, yet you wonder how many more times Bruce can risk playing him at centre-back. Looked uncomfortable throughout. 5/10.

Alan Hutton

Another player who seems to have lost none of his confidence from last season. Delighted supporters with a nifty move to beat his man in the first-half but was beaten to the ball for Wigan’s second goal. 6/10.

Birkir Bjarnason

Villa’s match-winner was utilised in the deep-lying role in which he featured during the second half of last season. Showed a striker’s instinct to net the decisive goal. 6/10.

Ahmed Elmohamady

Started his day on the right of midfield and ended it at right back. Elmohamady is among Villa’s most consistent players but the latter position seems to be the one where he performs best. 6/10

Jack Grealish

Showed his class with some excellent touches, while he has lost none of the strength developed last season. In truth, Wigan kept him reasonably well-marshalled yet he never stopped working. 7/10.

Andre Green

A lively performance from the winger, though too often the end product was missing. Showed an encouraging willingness to drop back and do defensive duties too. 6/10.

Jonathan Kodjia

The star of two seasons ago is increasingly a man with something to prove. Headed over when he should have scored early in the second half and not for the first time looked generally out-of-sorts. 5/10.

Star Man

John McGinn

Set the tone for an all-action performance in the second minute when he charged down a clearance. Barely stopped running and had a big hand in Villa’s first two goals. A hugely impressive debut. 8/10.

Substitutes

Albert Adomah (for Tuanzebe, 65 mins)

Added some attacking drive to Villa’s right flank. 6/10.

Rushian Hepburn-Murphy (for Green, 74)

Looked sharp again and only a well-timed challenge from Cedric Kipre prevented him going through on goal. 6/10.

Conor Hourihane (for Kodjia, 87)

Delivered the cross for the winner.