BLACKBURN ROVERS 1 Graham (54)

ASTON VILLA 0

DANNY GRAHAM’S goal was enough to give Blackburn a vital win over Villa and take their relegation fight to the final day.

Having missed a sitter on the stroke of half-time, Blackburn’s top scorer made up for it with a confident 54th-minute finish to provide three points their performance and bravery deserved.

Aston Villa welcomed back top scorer Jonathan Kodjia from suspension in one of three changes from the derby victory last week.

Rovers started the game much better than their two previous Ewood outings, but despite their dominance, it took 38 minutes for their first shot on goal, but Sam Johnstone saved superbly from Ryan Nyambe.

The atmosphere around the ground dipped towards the end of the half as news of Birmingham’s opener filtered through and Kodjia fired a warning of his own with a rasping drive that David Raya parried, moments before the goalkeeper smartly saved Henri Lansbury’s free-kick. Frustration grew on the stroke of half-time when Graham wriggled free of his marker inside the area, but with just the keeper to beat, he missed his kick.

Blackburn’s striker made up for that miss in the 54th minute though when a poor Nathan Baker pass was pounced on by Jason Lowe and Graham swept home his low, right wing cross from 12 yards for his 13th goal of the season.

Lansbury saw a shot well blocked as Villa finally found some urgency, but Rovers stood firm.

At the other end, Gallagher’s teasing cross was agonisingly too heavy for Derrick Williams but the hosts, despite some nervy moments in their defence towards the end, held out to set up a dramatic final day.