Blackburn Rovers 1 Aston Villa 1: Hourihane late show salvages point for under-fire Bruce

Aston Villa narrowly avoided defeat at Blackburn Rovers as an unconvincing performance kept Steve Bruce's position under the microscope.

Aston Villa boss Steve Bruce.

Conor Hourihane came to Aston Villa's rescue with a sublime last-gasp free-kick to secure a 1-1 draw at Blackburn Rovers on Saturday.

The substitute curled home three minutes into stoppage time to snatch a result that keeps Villa two points outside the top six.

Though the vital equaliser meant the visitor avoided back-to-back defeats, it will do little to ease the pressure on Steve Bruce amid what is now a five-match winless run in the Championship.

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Blackburn had appeared set to pile on further misery when Bradley Dack broke the deadlock in the 76th minute, tucking in the loose ball following a goalmouth scramble.

Instead, Tony Mowbray's men were forced to be content with a fourth draw in seven matches and they sit level on points with Villa.