Aston Villa - Telford crowd watch: The hope still remains with the claret and blue faithful

You won’t stop Aston Villa fans from enjoying Saturday afternoons even if it a Championship campaign on the horizon rather than a top-flight term.

Inevitably some supporters will drop off this season after last year’s shambles.

But Villa aren’t known to be one of the best supported clubs in the country by coincidence.

Week-after-week they pack out away ends and there’s no relenting when it comes to pre-season.

Here at Telford, over 1500 Villa fans turned up to watch the first friendly on English soil.

A huge roar from the terraces behind the goal greeted the players as they arrived on the pitch and the claret and blue faithful remained vocal throughout.

There were no chants aimed at manager Roberto Di Matteo, although surely a new song isn’t far away.

Tommy Elphick was given a standing ovation when he departed late on and there were wild celebrations with Aly Cissokho when he powered in the winning goal.