Aston Villa ... 2 Bolton Wanderers ... 0: Old faces in the guise of Dion Dublin and Alan Wright, and a familiar tirade from Sam Allardyce, ensured a new year counted for little.

Dublin, very much peripheral to Villa manager Graham Taylor's plans back in August, put the hosts on course for their first back-to-back wins of the campaign.

It was his 10th goal of the season and aiding and abetting him was Wright.

Wright, playing because Villa had eight senior players injured, also delivered the pass from which Darius Vassell settled matters.

For Bolton's manager, however, the second goal should have been anything but decisive.

Allardyce thought an attempt by Villa's defender Rob Edwards to swap shirts prematurely with Bolton's striker Michael Ricketts should have resulted in a penalty.

"Apart from actually taking the shirt off Michael's back, how much more could the Villa player have pulled it?" said Allardyce.

"It was a turning point in a very important game for both teams. We had an opportunity to equalise taken away by the referee because he bottled a major decision which should have gone in our favour.

"If they can't make those decisions, they should not be refereeing in the Premier League. I saw that Jeff Winter gave Francis Jeffers a penalty at Arsenal. Strangely enough, Arsenal were playing at home.

"When you are playing away from home, it does seem life is more difficult to get what you deserve from referees."

The Villa build-up to the first goal was superb. Thomas Hitzlsperger switched the ball crossfield from right to left to find Wright, who delivered a low diagonal ball into the penalty area.

Hendrie stepped over the ball to set up Dublin, who slotted it home.

Villa's second also had its origins down the inside-left channel and owed much to a long ball from Wright, as it did Vassell's persistence when Gudni Bergsson dallied with it on the byline.

Vassell dispossessed him and then made light of the tight angle.

Guardian Service

ASTON VILLA: Postma, Edwards, Samuel, Mellberg, Wright, De la Cruz (Cooke 88), Hendrie, Hitzlsperger (Kinsella 66), Barry, Dublin, Angel (Vassell 66). Subs Not Used: Enckelman, Ridgewell. Booked: Hitzlsperger, Hendrie. Goals: Dublin 8, Vassell 80.

BOLTON: Jaaskelainen, Barness, Bergsson, Whitlow, Charlton, Pedersen (Facey 61), Nolan (Bulent 85), Frandsen (Tofting 76), Gardner, Ricketts, Okocha. Subs Not Used: Livesey, Poole.

Referee: M Messias (N Yorkshire).