For Aston Villa, it has been a tough first season in the Championship after being relegated from the Premier League last campaign.

The fans would have been desperate to see their side make an immediate return to the top flight, but those prospects seem to be off the cards with the club having picked up just 39 points from their 33 games.

Villa are actually closer to the relegation zone, with just eight points separating themselves and 22nd-placed Wigan Athletic, while they are 19 points off the play-offs with just 13 games of the season remaining.

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It would take a miracle for Steve Bruce's side to put themselves in contention for promotion now, despite securing a 1-0 home win over Derby County on Saturday - making it a first win in 10 league outings.

James Chester's first goal for the club in the 20th-minute was enough to secure the Birmingham outfit the three points, but it was by no means an easy afternoon for the former Premier League side.

Twelve points separated the two sides prior to the game, and victory for County would have helped to have kept their slim play-off ambitions alive.

Villa hold on for win

However, it was Villa who were able to get the lucky break on this occasion, but still had to weather a storm from the away side who gave Bruce's men some cause for concern.

County were unable to end their barren run at Villa Park, losing on their last 10 visits, but Villa fans won't be completely convinced after having to hold onto their narrow leave for over 70 minutes.

Scott Carson's brilliance in goal managed to keep Derby in the game, but Villa's dodgy defending continuously made them look at risk of collapsing at any point.

It became a frustrating afternoon for Villa, when Andre Green headed against the post, Alan Hutton embarrassingly missed a great one-on-one opportunity, while Sam Johnstone was key to Derby's late pressure.

Bacuna's official altercation earns red

And County's pressure was clearly starting to frustrate Leandro Bacuna, who was desperate for his side to hold onto all three points late on, when the Netherlands Under-21 stupidly got himself sent off deep into added time.

As can be seen in the video below, Bacuna is shown a straight red after clearly being in disagreement with the linesman and pushing the official away with his chest.

The 25-year-old will now miss matches at home to Rotherham, Huddersfield and away to promotion-chasing Sheffield Wednesday, but could still face further disciplinary action from the FA.

"The linesman got the decision horribly wrong as it was a throw-in for us," said Bruce, per Sky Sports. "It was a huge frustration but he overstepped the mark and he knows that. It was kind of a chest bump and it was disappointing as he had given a brilliant performance.

"But with Leo it is all about himself. He always tests the manager as he makes a habit of being late, but against Derby he reminded what a good player he is."