Pre-Season Friendly: Rodinghausen 1 Aston Villa 1

Aston Villa were held to a 1-1 draw by German fifth-tier opponents Rodinghausen on Wednesday.

Manager Paul Lambert named completely different line-ups for the first and second halves of the friendly fixture, with close-season recruits Aleksandar Tonev, Jores Okore, Nicklas Helenius and Antonio Luna among those given a pre-season run-out.

There was little to choose between the two sides in the opening exchanges, with Bulgarian winger Tonev trying his luck twice from long range without breaking the deadlock.

The visitors had to wait until after the interval, with a completely changed side, to take the lead.

Matt Lowton provided the precise cross and Helenius was on hand to head home at the near post.

With new arrivals Okore and Luna eager to impress, it was the visitors who continued to control proceedings.

Helenius could have doubled their advantage but arrived just too late to make contact with Andreas Weimann’s teasing delivery.

Villa had strong appeals for a penalty turned down with 15 minutes to play when Ciaran Clark took a tumble in the box and soon after they were made to pay, Soren Siek levelling things up for the hosts.