Battered Villa may turn to Holland

Graham Taylor will today step up his bid to take Ipswich's Republic of Ireland midfielder Matt Holland to Aston Villa.

Last night's InterToto Cup defeat painfully exposed Villa's lack of a dominant midfielder following the departure of George Boateng and Paul Merson, and Taylor is expected to make relegated Ipswich a £3million offer they will find difficult to refuse.

Villa carved out few clear-cut chances, despite using three attackers - Darius Vassell, Peter Crouch and Marcus Allback - and were destroyed by Lille goals either side of the interval.

Abdelilah Fahmi scored with a 35-yard free-kick in the 45th minute, which was deflected past Villa goalkeeper Peter Enckelman, and Nicolas Bonnal added the second, shooting into an unguarded net in the first minute of the second half.

Taylor said: 'The signs are that we are short in our midfield department and I'm looking to bring someone in. I fully intend to do so - the only question is when.'