Aston Villa, already guaranteed a place in the last 32 in the Uefa Cup, gave a stumbling display and will initially be without Steve Sidwell, who will be suspended after he was sent off for his second caution late on last night. Martin O’Neill, however, can look forward to a first leg at home in mid-February after Villa finished third in group F.

Hamburg won the group after outplaying a much-depleted Villa side. Mladen Petric and Ivica Olic, the Croatia strikers, sharing their goals before Nathan Delfouneso scored another opportunist goal for Villa by way of consolation, deflecting in a wayward shot from Moustapha Salifou seven minutes from time.

“I’m naturally disappointed,” O’Neill, the Villa manager, said. “Some of the goals we conceded were pretty poor. But I’m delighted we’re through and by the time the round of 32 comes, I’m sure you will see a much-improved Aston Villa side and a real spirited performance.

“I’m disappointed for the people who have travelled so far to watch us but I met up with some of them last night and explained why the likes of Gabby Agbonlahor needed a rest. I think they accepted the explanation I gave them. So we finish third and face a group winner.”

Never mind the eight changes in personnel, Villa’s performance gave credence to the suspicion that O’Neill may have sought that third place. Trailing 2-0 by the interval, Villa had seen their centre halves, Zat Knight and Carlos Cuéllar, pulled apart by the two Croatia strikers.

Teams finishing third in their group will play the home leg of the next round first, against a group winner. Those finishing first and second will be at home for the second leg and, for most, this will be deemed an advantage; for Villa, who are frequently at their most devastating when playing away, it is less so, especially with Chelsea due at Villa Park on February 21, three days after the Uefa Cup resumes.

Knight and Cuéllar were caught too far apart when Bastian Reinhardt’s long pass allowed Petric to pull the ball down and fire past Brad Guzan. Then Olic dived in front of Cuéllar to head in Dennis Aogo’s fine centre. Marcell Jansen struck the crossbar with a wonderful shot but the 50,000 crowd did not have to wait too long to celebrate again when Olic was once more played in to shoot home in style.

Hamburg (4-4-2): F Rost — J Boateng, B Reinhardt, J Mathijsen, D Aogo — P Trochowski (sub: A Ben-Hatira, 89min), D Jarolim, C Benjamin, M Jansen — M Petric (sub: T Neves, 78), I Olic (sub: J P Guerrero, 67). Substitutes not used: W Hesl, G Demel, J Pitroipa, Tunay Torun. Booked: Mathijsen.

Aston Villa (4-4-2): B Guzan — L Young, C Cuéllar, Z Knight, N Shorey — C Gardner (sub: B Bannan, 61), N Reo-Coker, S Sidwell, M Salifou — M Harewood, N Delfouneso. Substitutes not used: B Friedel, C Davies, S Petrov, C Clark, C Herd, S Lowry. Booked: Knight, Sidwell. Sent off: Sidwell.

Referee: A Nikolaev (Russia).