Villa player ratings: Preston (A)

Aston Villa drew 1-1 with Preston North End at Deepdale on Saturday afternoon.

The first half was one that will not live long in the memories of both sets of fans, but those of a Villa persuasion at least had a goal to cheer about just before the half-time whistle was blown.  

The second half, if we are being perfectly honest, wasn’t much more exciting – there were only three shots on target, although Preston did hit the woodwork twice.

The home side were finding it difficult to put the ball in the net, so Ahmed Elmohamady decided to give them a late Christmas present by scoring an own goal on the hour mark.

Smith, due to a number of injuries, has basically had to play the same players over the last three games, and it was clear that they were tired.

He will be waiting patiently for the transfer window to open so that he can get a few more players in, especially in defense.

Here are our Villa player ratings for today’s match against Preston.