Aston Villa remained in touch with fourth placed Arsenal with a thrilling 3-2 victory over Blackburn Rovers in their Premier League encounter on Wednesday.

Stephen Warnock had put Blackburn in the lead midway through the first half but Villa fought back to first equalize through Luke Young on the stroke of half time before Gareth Barry scored his third goal in as many games to give Villa the lead.

Gabriel Agbonlahor looked to have put the result beyond doubt by scoring a third for Villa three minutes from the final whistle but Brett Emerton's goal in the final minute of the game ensured that Blackburn were in the hunt for an equalizer till the final whistle.

It was a disappointing result for Blackburn who dominated large portions of the game as Villa looked tired, playing their third game in six days. The visitors were on the top right from the start and took a deserved lead in the 29th minute when Benni McCarthy played in Warnock and the Blackburn defender made no mistake from close range.

Just when it looked that Blackburn were on course for a comfortable victory, Young scored his first goal for Villa to pull his side back on level terms just seconds before the half time whistle.

Villa stepped up the pressure in the second half and were rewarded in the 64th minute when Milner found Barry with a perfect cross and the England international slotted home his chance from three yards out.

Blackburn looked to stage a come back of their own late in the game but Agbonlahor scored a third for Villa in the 87th minute before Emerton reduced the deficit in the final minute of the game to keep Blackburn in the hunt for an equalizer in the injury time.