Gudni's torment

"I should have equalised," the Reebok skipper admitted as he agonised over the chance that went begging at Villa Park where a spirited performance ended in a 3-2 defeat - ending a run that stretched back to April 16.

"I had a very good chance and with a bit of luck we could have had a point."

Having taken a lead within 90 seconds through Michael Ricketts, Wanderers looked like heading for a heavy defeat as a rampant Aston Villa - on their way to the top of the table - stormed into a 3-1 lead.

But Ricketts' second sparked a fighting finish which looked certain to pay off as the in-form striker deflected a Per Frandsen cross directly into Bergsson's path - only for him to miss the ball completely.

"It came a bit awkwardly," the veteran defender explained.

"I couldn't quite head it but it was at that height ... too close ... it looked and felt a bit awkward.

"I tried to take it with the outside of my right boot but failed miserably I'm afraid."

Despite the disappointment, Bergsson believes Wanderers can take heart from a performance of character against an impressive Villa side, who got the benefit of a controversial penalty award to go 3-1 up inside the first two minutes of the second half when Ricardo Gardner was penalised for a foul on Villa midfielder Moustapha Hadji.

Questionable penalty

"We were having to climb a mountain after they scored their third, which was a questionable penalty," he admitted. "I thought it was a very very harsh decision. If he touched him it was minimal contact but the referee gave it and after that it was very difficult for us.

"Villa gave us a hard time and we gave them too much space to work in. We dropped back and and made it too easy for them.

"It was a bad time to give those two goals away (either side of half-time) but we came back into the game and when Michael scored the second ... who knows?

"But we shouldn't be too disheartened. We stuck at it and could have nicked a point in the end."