Aston Villa boss Unai Emery rued his side's wastefulness in front of goal as their European ambitions suffered a blow with a 1-1 draw at home to Ipswich Town.

Ipswich went down to 10 men in the first half after Axel Tuanzebe was given two yellow cards, but still took the lead 10 minutes into the second half through striker Liam Delap.

Villa fought back and equalised as half-time substitute Marcus Rashford's free-kick crashed against the bar, into the path of Ollie Watkins to score from yards out.

The home side had opportunities to win the game in the dying stages, but Emery and Villa were left frustrated.

Speaking to BBC Match of the Day on whether the draw is a missed opportunity, the Spaniard said: “The match we deserved to win, when it was 11 v 11 it was very difficult.

“We had some very good chances for Ollie Watkins and we needed to be clinical.

"In 90 minutes we were being positive and when they had the sending off, we really were dominating.

“We conceded one easy goal and to come back with the result, it was difficult but we had the chances to do it, we had the chances to win but at the end they defend very well.

"We tried and we played the second half dominating, we scored only one goal and it was not enough. We deserved more but they competed very well."

Emery was pleased with the impact from Rashford and Marco Asensio, with both coming on in the second half to good effect.

He said: “Good impact and keep going now, try to fit in as best as possible. We are playing against Liverpool here. We lost some opportunities but of course we have to be consistent and hope we can react."

Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna was delighted with the effort from his players, as they earned a point in their fight to stave off relegation despite playing 60 minutes plus injury time with 10 men.

He said: “To go down to 10 men and perform how we did….a great squad effort.

“We would have loved to win, but it took an incredible free kick and the ball to ricochet right to their player to hold us to a draw.

“The group is going to fight to the last breath. There's no doubt about that. The group are together, I think we are improving. The mentality of the group is really strong and I'm sure that is only going to grow.”

McKenna believed Tuanzebe was unfortunate to receive the first of his two yellow cards.

“I think the first one is not a yellow. Anyone can make a mistake but it's more how quickly it comes out, it's waiting for us to make a foul to give the yellow.

“That was a decision against a smaller team away from home.”