Teenage hotshot Nathan Delfouneso revealed last year’s play-off heartache inspired Villa to be crowned undisputed Premier Reserve League champions.

Kevin MacDonald’s second-string went one better and beat Sunderland 3-1 in the national play-off final at Villa Park, laying to rest the demons of their 3-0 by Liverpool at the same stage a year ago.

The 18-year-old opened the scoring, only to see his effort quickly cancelled out, but Villa hit back in the second half via James Collins and Shane Lowry to seal the silverware.

Delfouneso said: “We said once we had won the southern championship we didn’t want to just stop there.

“We badly wanted to finish it off and win it after the disappointment of last year. We were so eager to get our hands on the trophy because it hurt going to Anfield and losing like that.

“It was a devastating trip back.”

Star-of-the-show Barry Bannan paid tribute to fans who turned out in their droves to cheer the claret and blues to victory.

He said: The supporters were brilliant. We were hoping before the game we’d get a decent turnout and it turned out that way.

“It was unbelievable.”