Making life difficult for themselves has always come easily to Villa. Last night was no different.

Missed chances, conceding late goals and red cards – Gerard Houllier’s team had the lot in this hard-fought extra-time win at Villa Park in the last 16 of the Carling Cup.

And it is no one-off either.

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They paid for their profligacy at Sunderland and drew a blank against Chelsea, while Rapid Vienna, Stoke and Tottenham have all scored decisive goals against them in the final quarter of an hour.

In the previous round they needed inspiration from a substitute in the shape of Emile Heskey to see off Blackburn and so too it was the case here against more Lancashire opposition.

Once again Heskey stepped off the bench to score what, at the time, looked destined to be an 86th-minute winner.

Clarke Carlisle had other ideas, though, and it was eventually left to another sub, Stewart Downing, to fire Villa into the quarter-finals with a left-foot rocket. (Even then Marc Albrighton’s sending off made for a nervy finale.)

But, crucially, they find themselves in the hat for the Carling Cup quarter-finals and a return to Wembley just a season after that heartbreaking final defeat to Manchester United.

Make no mistake, this is now a very real chance for Cup glory and only United and Arsenal will be considered bigger contenders to win it.

And, there is also the added intrigue of a potential derby with Birmingham and Albion also in the pot.

Talking of Blues, this was hardly a performance which will have struck fear into their biggest rivals going into Sunday’s derby.

Having failed to put the game to bed in the first half after spurning a host of opportunities, the Villans actually found themselves weathering a second-half storm against their Championship opponents until Heskey netted – and even then they only held onto the lead for three minutes.

But the side which takes on Alex McLeish’s men will have a different look to it – particularly in defence – with the selection gamble taken by Houllier last night paying off.

Key players like Richard Dunne, James Collins, who played just two minutes, and the suspended Stephen Warnock got to recharge their batteries for battle this weekend, while others like Downing and Heskey at least played well under the 90.

Yes, they could have done without the added drain of extra-time but Blues had to put up with the same the previous night. Fatigue, then, will be no excuse.

There were other positives too.

Steve Sidwell, who can expect a run in the team with Stiliyan Petrov out for two months, slotted seamlessly into the heart of the midfield alongside stand-in skipper Nigel Reo-Coker and, even if his finishing needs sharpening up, he at least brought added energy and drive to the engine room.

After missing a sitter at Sunderland on Saturday, Heskey will be brimming with confidence ahead of the clash with his former club after finding the net last night.

The performances of Young and Brad Friedel were also real pluses.

Injuries and Albrighton’s suspension mean Houllier’s team should virtually pick itself for Sunday, with Heskey up front, Stephen Ireland in behind and Young out wide.

Ireland, originally pencilled in for a place on the bench, was a late replacement for John Carew in the team after the Norway star was forced to pull out of the starting XI due to illness.

There were six changes to Saturday’s side, though, with Eric Lichaj, Carlos Cuellar, Ciaran Clark, Albrighton, Sidwell and Barry Bannan all drafted in.

Yet, despite running events from the off, it took 17 minutes for the home team to carve a decent chance.

Young’s first-time lofted pass sent Ireland away but, still 20 yards out, he took the chance on too early and his low shot was saved comfortably by Clarets keeper Lee Grant. That miss was nothing compared to what was to come seven minutes later, however.

Reo-Coker was guilty of a poor miss late on against Chelsea recently but when Young squared to him to leave him with just Grant to beat a goal looked the only option.

Instead, somehow he fired straight at the keeper – who deserved some credit for the save – but even then the rebound fell kindly to Bannan only for his shot to herald another excellent save.

Having missed such chances there was a fear Villa could come to pay for their profligacy. And that so nearly became a reality.

They could count themselves lucky when Martin Paterson broke clear down the left, cut inside Ciaran Clark and curled agonisingly wide of the post.

Something had to change and, to Houllier’s credit, he did just that. Heskey and Downing were introduced.

The latter should have done better when sent clean through by Young but he curled well wide but, with just four minutes left, Heskey didn’t disappoint as he swept home a Young cross from close range.

But, with a minute left on the clock, the Lancashire club were level, Carlisle rising above three Villa players to squeeze a header inside Friedel’s near post.

Incredible, yet still believable.

What should have been cheers to greet the whistle were instead boos and Villa had it all to do again.

To their credit, they had responded by the 96th minute when Downing punished the Burnley defence for allowing him to check back onto his favoured left foot before unleashing a screamer into the roof of the net from 20 yards.

All over? Not quite. Albrighton’s 100th-minute red card for a professional foul on Wade Elliott – pushing the Burnley player over inside the ‘D’ when he was clean through on goal – made for a tense finale with Friedel needing to make three superb saves to get his team over the line.