Aston Villa progressed to the knockout stages of the Uefa Cup last night despite failing to make progress on the pitch. The latest letdown at Villa Park, where Martin O’Neill’s team have won five of their 14 games this season, was balanced by the fact that they go to Hamburg a week before Christmas with their place in the last 32 guaranteed, thanks to Slavia Prague’s home defeat by the German side.

Although the Villa manager could hail a wonderful first senior goal for Nathan Delfouneso on the 17-year-old’s full debut, he is likely to require his senior players as more than second-half substitutes if Villa are to win group F. Even with the big guns joining the fray late on, Villa could not save the match, and so the placings will be determined by the final round of matches. MSK Zilina joined Slavia in dropping out of the competition, while the top three sides, Villa, Ajax and Hamburg, are level on six points.

Vladimir Leitner was sent off late on for tugging the shirts of Ashley Young and Gabriel Agbonlahor, but Villa could not make their advantage count.Craig Gardner headed against a post from James Milner’s centre in stoppage time, before Agbonlahor pulled a shot wide, but O’Neill, the Villa manager, knows he will have to field a stronger side for the final group tie on December 17 if he is to feel confident of winning the section.

O’Neill admitted, however, that finishing third in the group would have the silver lining of allowing Villa to play at home first in the next round, on February 18 or 19, and so avoid travelling, as they must play Chelsea on the next Saturday, possibly in a lunchtime kick-off.

A season that started in mid-July, with Intertoto Cup duty presaging entry to this competition, has stretched the legs of O’Neill’s first-choice players. Games such as last night’s have to be the gauge by which the likes of Zat Knight, Marlon Harewood, Gardner and Isaiah Osbourne will be judged and, on the evidence of Villa’s abysmal opening, in which the Slovak side ran up a two-goal lead, the future remains uncertain for some of Villa’s reserves. O’Neill said he had no regrets at his team selection.

“No, this was an opportunity for some of the players in our squad to play and I still hoped we could win the game,” the manager said. “This was our idea of rotation.”

Knight was culpable for the first goal as he lined up to head clear Leitner’s right-foot cross whipped in from the left wing, then ducked at the last moment. Brad Guzan, deputising for Brad Friedel in the home goal, was deceived as the ball swerved into the net.

Bad soon became worse as Villa’s defence was left flat-footed and square. Adauto teased the cumbersome Carlos Cuéllar before playing his pass inside Luke Young, a right back who continues to be selected at left back, and Peter Pekarik squared for Peter Styvar to sort out his feet and side-foot home.

The majority at Villa Park were left stunned, but at least they had something special to cheer in the 28th minute. O’Neill has likened Delfouneso to a young Agbonlahor, the England striker, and the newcomer showed why. His movement to receive the layoff from Harewood was clever, but few were prepared for the quality of the his left-foot volley into the net.

“I thought that he played brilliantly,” O’Neill, admitting that the youngster could soon be considered for action in the Barclays Premier League, said. “What a debut that was. I think it’ll be an interesting few months ahead. I don’t want to put too much pressure on him, but I think he’s knocking on the door.”

Delfouneso may have looked lively throughout but Villa continued to struggle until bringing on their best players midway through the second half — and, even then, they could not break through. Villa deserve great credit for putting so much pressure on the top four of the Premier League but this tie showed up the paucity of their back-up resources. Their best team may be able, when playing at full pelt, to overcome Arsenal and hold Manchester United, but O’Neill has acknowledged that building a squad to compete with the best on a regular basis will take longer. News filtering through from Prague, where Hamburg were winning, provided a strange sort of consolation.

Aston Villa (4-4-2): B Guzan — N Reo-Coker, Z Knight, C Cuéllar, L Young — C Gardner, I Osbourne (sub: J Milner, 65min), M Salifou (sub: G Barry, 69), A Young — N Delfouneso (sub: G Agbonlahor, 75), M Harewood. Substitutes not used: B Friedel, M Laursen, S Petrov, C Clark. Booked: Osbourne.

MSK Zilina (4-4-1-1): D Pernis — O Sourek, J Piacek, Vomacka, V Leitner — P Pekarik, Z Strba, M Pecalka, R Jez (sub: L Tesak, 90) — Adauto (sub: A Vladavic, 70) — P Styvar (sub: E Rilke, 86). Substitutes not used: M Seman, M Karoglan, I Belak, P Poliacek. Booked: Leitner, Pecalka. Sent off: Leitner.

Referee: E Berntsen (Norway).