Remi Garde watches his Aston Villa side lose 3-0 to the club's Under-21s in a friendly

Sky Sports claim that, with Villa out of the FA Cup and thus not in competitive action over the weekend, manager Garde arranged a closed-doors match between the senior team and the development squad at Bodymoor Heath on Friday afternoon – with the intention of giving his beleaguered side some match practice and, perhaps, a much needed taste of victory.

But things did not work out as planned, with the Villa youth side reportedly running out emphatic 3-0 winners in a game where the likes of Brad Guzan, Alan Hutton, Jordan Veretout and Scott Sinclair all featured.

The club have not officially confirmed that the match even took place, but Sky Sports nevertheless claim that Garde will now watch the U-21s in action against Swansea on Monday evening – with an eye towards perhaps bringing some of those players into his senior setup.

Villa are currently bottom of the Premier League with 16 points from 26 games, and sit nine points from safety with 12 games remaining.

Their most recent encounter saw them beaten 6-0 at Villa Park by Liverpool, their worst home result for 81 years.

The club's U-21s were also in need of some match action, with Villa's official website noting that Monday's game with Swansea will be their "first competitive meeting in just under a month following the postponement at Blackburn a fortnight ago".

Villa's next Premier League game is against Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday.