As Carlos’ men Reach for the stars

BRISTOL CITY: Fielding; Smith, Flint, Baker, possession to set up Reach, who produced a stunning left-footed swerving shot from 30 yards which flew into the top corner of the net.

He said: “I’ve not scored a better goal than that in my career. As soon as it left my foot, I felt it was going in.”

With seven clean sheets in their previous 10 games it was a shock to the system for Villa, who struggled to assert their authority.

Wednesday had their tails up thanks to the early goal and produced several promising attacks, often engineered by Barry Bannan.

Villa suffered another blow in the 21st minute when skipper Terry was forced to limp out of the game with a leg injury, to be replaced by Samba.

It proved a crucial moment as Wednesday steamed further ahead within a minute of Terry’s premature departure. Bannan cleverly played a one-two with Rhodes to cut through a defence clearly weakened by the departure of the former Chelsea star.

And Rhodes took full advantage by slipping the ball home unchallenged.

It was the first time since April 2016 that the striker had scored in successive matches, after he ended a 25-game goal drought against Millwall last time out.

Villa were far more positive in the second half following the introduction of Jack Grealish but were lucky not to concede a third when substitute Liam Palmer missed an open goal.

Samba’s last-gasp strike finally gave Villa something to cheer but there was never any chance of a comeback. Bruce was disappointed Callum O’Dowda M Jones with the loss but emphasised the bigger picture as they chase a return to the Premier League.

He said: “We gave ourselves a mountain to climb, going behind to two good goals early on.

“It was compounded by injuries. We had a bad afternoon.

“We’re still there and in amongst it. We’ve had a really good run, it’s our first defeat at home this season. We take it, move on and get ready to bounce back.”