Aston Villa found once again that they had done the hard work away from home. With a visit to Stamford Bridge to play Chelsea in the Barclays Premier League on Sunday, Martin O’Neill’s team have other priorities, but they booked their place in next Tuesday’s draw for the group stage of the Uefa Cup courtesy more of the 3-1 victory they achieved in Bulgaria a fortnight ago than last night’s efforts.

Marlon Harewood scored the first-half goal that might have presaged a landslide victory, but Wilfried Niflore’s penalty early in the second half for Litex Lovech ensured that Villa had no room for showboating. Even without John Carew, Gareth Barry and Gabriel Agbonlahor, Villa created a plethora of half-chances after the interval, but the closest they came to scoring a winning goal was when Ashley Young, giving a lively display in a central attacking role, sent a vicious left-footed shot against the post after Harewood flicked on Luke Young’s long pass.

Villa, who are competing in this competition for the first time in seven years, came through their qualifying round after drawing 1-1 at home with Hafnarfjordur, the Icelandic team, in the wake of a convincing away win. Notwithstanding an underwhelming result on the night, Chelsea will not need reminding that Villa often save their best for the road.

“I’m just really pleased we’re through,” O’Neill said. “Overall we did enough. Tonight was a night that was difficult to get excited about, leading 3-1 from the start, but European evenings at Villa Park when there’s something to really go for should

be really exciting. It’s a step in the right direction for the football club. Having European football up until Christmas, with the possibility of some really big sides coming here, is really great.”

Villa’s nerves, if they had any, were soothed midway through the first half. Harewood went bursting through after Young’s deft header from Brad Friedel’s long kick. The No 9 showed a rare burst of pace to surge past Plamen Nikolov and dispatch a crisp shot across the face of goal and into the far corner. “It was a great finish,” the Villa manager said. “That will give him a big boost of confidence.”

It was Harewood’s first goal of the season and not before time. A super-sub last season, when he scored six times and frequently energised the Villa crowd, he has been a subdued figure this term as O’Neill’s strengthened squad has meant fewer run-outs.

Last night Harewood looked to be in the mood. O’Neill played him as a lone striker, with Young granted a free role just behind, and the system suited both players. The Villa manager had been eulogising about Young’s form beforehand, insisting that he could not be playing any better than he is at this stage of his development, and the England player was at his mesmerising best as he shimmied inside and shuffled his way towards goal. With the Lovech defenders seemingly in a trance, Young rolled a shot across the face of goal and just wide.

That O’Neill has been able to rotate his squad for cup games is indicative of how well Villa have started the season but, if he was entertaining the notion of withdrawing any more of his key men at an early juncture, after making six changes from his Premier League line-up, Lovech’s equaliser in the 53rd minute caused him to defer.

Carlos Cuéllar, signed for £7.8 million from Rangers in the summer, looks a class act, but when the Spaniard thought he had performed the perfect tackle on Tom, the Brazilian midfield player, Tony Chapron, the French referee, awarded a penalty. Niflore converted, but Villa always had plenty in hand.

Aston Villa (4-4-1-1): B Friedel — L Young, C Cuéllar, Z Knight, N Shorey — W Routledge, M Salifou, S Petrov, J Milner — A Young (sub: I Osbourne, 86min) — M Harewood. Substitutes not used: B Guzan, C Gardner, M Laursen, G Agbonlahor, N Delfouneso, N Reo-Coker.

Litex Lovech (4-2-3-1): T Todorov — S Manolev, A Barthe, P Nikolov (sub: M Tzvetanov, 46), P Zanev — D Berberovic, Sandrinho — Tom (sub: E Angelov, 79), I Popov (sub: E Du Bala, 86), Dudu — W Niflore. Substitutes not used: U Golubovic, J Asedo, K Bibishkov, A Tsvetkov. Booked: Popov, Zanev.

Referee: T Chapron (France).