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Aston Villa’s 100 per-cent record in pre-season came to an abrupt halt as a largely second-string side were beaten comfortably at Chesterfield.

Jack Grealish scored for the claret and blues but they fell to a 3-1 defeat after goals from Tendayi Darikwa, Sam Hird and Samy Morsy.

The majority of Villa’s big-hitters were left at home after the recent trip to the United States and they were missed.

Nathan Baker, Andreas Weimann, Gabby Agbonlahor, Ashley Westwood, Philippe Senderos and Kieran Richardson were all given the night off.

Apart from Charles N’Zogbia, the Bomb Squad were absent, too.

There was no Darren Bent or Alan Hutton.

And new signing Joe Cole and last year’s player-of-the-season Fabian Delph missed out through injury.

It was hardly a happy night for the 996 fans who visited the Proact Stadium but one look at the pre-season schedule explains exactly why boss Paul Lambert gave his stars a rest.

A jaunt to the other side of the world was followed by Wednesday night’s friendly just a few days after arriving back.

On Friday they fly out to Holland ahead of the clash with Groningen so it was probably a wise move to give the first-teamers a welcomed break.

It left the team with a very youthful feel to it and it showed.

Villa were sloppy in the early stages and that continued throughout the first half.

Brad Guzan’s agility saved the visitors from an even bigger beating as Chesterfield came flying out of the blocks.

In only the second minute he was called into action when he had to save Gary Roberts’ shot with his feet.

He could do nothing about the opener on six minutes, though.

Villa failed to clear their lines and were punished as Darikwa continued his run down the right and slotted home past the American who couldn’t keep his effort out.

Evatt was next to go close for the hosts.

On nine minutes his header was cleared off the line by Janoi Donacien as Villa were put under intense pressure.

The giant defender played the whole game at centre-back and did reasonably well but he still has a lot to learn.

Going forward Villa were poor.

Gary Gardner’s free-kick flew narrowly wide early on but it wasn’t until the half-hour mark that they really woke up.

Inbetween that Ritchie Humphreys missed the ball from close range when he looked certain to score.

Guzan also stopped Armand Gnanduillet’s thumping header and then watched the rebound sail over the bar.

Callum Robinson and Graham Burke started as the front two and they eventually burst into life.

Robinson showed good skill by twisting and turning the Chesterfield defence inside out but his cross was cleared away on 27 minutes.

Seconds later the forward, still only 19, had the ball in the back of the net but it was ruled out for offside.

Samir Carruthers, who looked tidy at times but wasteful in others, played the delightful ball into him however Robinson just couldn’t time his run.

On the half-hour mark Burke looked destined to score as Aleksandar Tonev slipped him in but he was denied by the crossbar.

That was as close as Villa came in the first half and it was instead Chesterfield who impressed.

Daniel Jones had a decent game at left-back and he clearly loves to play in the role of a modern attacking full-back.

On 42 minutes he raced past Carruthers and Matt Lowton before sending a pin-point cross into the path of Gnanduillet.

Somehow, though, Guzan managed to tip his bullet header over the bar with an incredible save.

From the resulting corner Villa’s defence was breached again as Sam Hird scrambled in Roberts' set-piece.

Paul Lambert made six changes at the interval bringing on every outfield player on the bench.

Leandro Bacuna, Jores Okore, Enda Stevens, Karim El Ahmadi, Charles N’Zogbia and Jack Grealish all came on in place of Lowton, Herd, Joe Bennett, Gary Gardner, Burke and Tonev.

The changes made a notable difference as Villa looked much more creative going forward.

On 51 minutes they were back in the game as two of the new arrivals combined.

N’Zogbia set up Grealish and the young Villa winger smashed his shot in off the post.

That clearly lifted the teenager who had a spring in his step for the rest of the game.

N’Zogbia smashed a 25-yard strike just inches over the bar as Villa chased the game but in the end they were caught on the break. As they piled forward, Chesterfield flew up the other end and Morsy wrapped up the win.