Aston Villa fans staged a planned walkout during Tuesday's 3-1 defeat to Everton in protest against the club's owners.

Thousands of home fans had already left even before the scheduled protest in the 74th minute - chosen to mark Villa's foundation in 1874 - and they missed their team's only goal scored by Rudy Gestede five minutes later.

However, the match was a forgone conclusion by then with Villa, who have won just three times in 28 matches this season, left cut adrift at the bottom of the table.

For those fans who remained, as at Stoke on Saturday, there was more self-mocking, further chants against owner Randy Lerner and a defiant rendition of "Aston Villa... by far the greatest team the world has ever seen."

Asked about the protest from Villa fans, manager Remi Garde said: "I'm not too comfortable with this. I'm not in a position here long enough to assess the behaviour of everyone.

Villa fell to a 3-1 defeat to Everton on the night of the walkout

"I respect totally the fans as part of this football club but I have to respect as well my position and the people who put me in this position.

"I will focus my energy on trying to get the points we need. This is my job, to try to keep the players with as much confidence as I can and we need to stay together in this difficult situation.

"It's difficult to find the right words but then we always have to find the resources deep inside, everybody has to do that."

Ramiro Funes Mori scored the opening goal of the game

Everton took the lead in the fifth minute when Ramiro Funes Mori headed in a Kevin Mirallas corner.

Aaron Lennon made it 2-0 after 30 minutes following a sweeping Everton move and Romelu Lukaku bundled home the third after an hour before Gestede's consolation goal.