Two second half goals from Wigan winger Antonio Valencia left Villa’s UEFA Cup dreams hanging by a thread today.

The Ecuadorian broke the deadlock of a poor game on 52 with a shot that looped up off Wilfred Bouma and made it 2-0 11 minutes later when he raced onto an Emile Heskey flick on to beat Scott Carson at his near post.

A sixth home league defeat of the season left Villa needing to beat West Ham on the final day and hope Everton lose against Arsenal tomorrow and Newcastle to get the only UEFA Cup place.

Villa named an unchanged 16 for the fifth game in a row.

This meant Olof Mellberg had recovered from a virus scare which kept him from training this week to take his place in the Villa line-up for his final home appearance for the club before moving to Juventus in the Summer.

The big question on the lips of all Villa fans was whether it was the Villa Park curtain call for captain Gareth Barry. The game was also expected to be the final home appearances of Carson and Berger.

Mellberg was given a huge reception as he emerged last from the tunel with his children, daughter Saga and son John.