Scott Sinclair hit a hat-trick as Aston Villa needed extra time to secure a 5-3 victory over League Two Notts County in tonight's League Cup second-round tie at Villa Park.
Villa made nine changes to their team and after a slow start they found themselves behind when County winger Genaro Snijders's curling effort from 25 yards beat Mark Bunn to stun the home crowd.
The Magpies, winless since upsetting Championship Huddersfield in the first round, were buoyed by the goal and came close to doubling their advantage just minutes later when debutant Izale McLeod fired inches wide after linking up with Jon Stead.
That scare finally seemed to wake up Villa and they found an equaliser when former Magpies loanee Jack Grealish slipped in Adama Traore, and the ex-Barcelona man marked his first Villa start by tapping home.
Both sides pressed to retake the lead, with Roy Carroll saving Jordan Ayew's low drive and Graham Burke testing Bunn minutes later, but it was the League Two side who restored their advantage on the stroke of half time when Bunn brought down McLeod and Stead converted from the spot.
Grealish inspired Villa to another leveller shortly after the restart when he squared for Sinclair to provide the simplest of finishes, but the away side took the lead again just six minutes later.
Former Villa youngster Burke cracked a strike in off the post from distance to put Notts ahead for the third time on the night, and things nearly worsened when Stead's effort was tipped over by Bunn.
Parity was restored again when Sinclair scored his second of the night from the penalty spot with 12 minutes remaining to ensure that extra time would be necessary to decide a winner.
The visitors looked the more fatigued in overtime and Villa took advantage to go in front for the first time after 99 minutes when Sinclair found space to complete his hat-trick.
Joe Bennett added some gloss to the scoreline with a 20-yard drive in the second extra period as Villa progressed into the third round.
Tom Nightingale
