Aston Villa continued their pre-season preparations as they got further minutes under their belt despite falling to a 2-0 defeat at Stoke City.
A mix of first-team regulars and Academy youngters gained valuable time on the pitch at the bet365 Stadium, with Villa rotating their entire XI on the hour mark for their second fixture of the summer.
Steven Fletcher’s looping header handed the Championship hosts a third-minute lead, which was doubled by Mario Vrancic’s fine long-range strike early in the second half.
The Villans, backed by a 3,000-strong travelling support, played the remaining 23 minutes with 10 men after Wesley was sent off for an altercation with Nick Powell.
Villa will step up their fitness levels with their next pre-season test against Nottingham Forest at Bodymoor Heath on Wednesday (ko 1pm). Watch live on VillaTV.
Teenagers Aaron Ramsey and Lamare Bogarde were included in Villa's starting line-up for the encounter, having both featured in the second half of Wednesday's 4-0 victory at Walsall, with John McGinn wearing the captain's armband.
But it was the Potters who got off to a dream start when Fletcher connected with Powell’s deep cross to send a looping header over Jed Steer from the edge of the penalty area.
Ashley Young fired a 25-yard free-kick narrowly wide in the 12th minute before Anwar El Ghazi came close to drawing level, his shot tipped on to a post by Josef Bursik after Ollie Watkins had closed down the City goalkeeper.
Emiliano Buendía was next to be denied by Bursik just before the half-hour mark, while El Ghazi tested the Potters stopper from distance in the 39th minute as the visitors dominated but could not find the leveller they deserved prior to the break.
And having opened the scoring three minutes into the first half, Stoke doubled their advantage four minutes into the second period – Vrancic surging forward and carrying the ball a long way before unleashing an unstoppable right-footed effort into the top corner from 20 yards.
Villa again named a strong list of substitutes and made 11 changes on the hour mark to rotate their entire XI.
Yet Wesley had only been on the pitch around seven minutes before seeing red following an incident with Powell.
Substitute goalkeeper Viljami Sinisalo made impressive saves to keep out a header from former Villa defender James Chester and block Danny Batth’s follow-up effort.
Opposite number Bursik then made an impressive stop to keep out a late header from sub Keinan Davis as Villa threatened.
Villa starting XI: Steer, Cash, Bogarde, Hause, A Young, McGinn, Nakamba, Buendía, A Ramsey, El Ghazi, Watkins.
Subs: Sinisalo, Marschall, Targett, Guilbert, Chrisene, Konsa, S Revan, Hourihane, Chukwuemeka, J Ramsey, Philogene-Bidace, Wright, Wesley, Davis.
Villa line-up from 60 mins: Sinisalo, Guilbert, Konsa, S Revan, Targett, Philogene-Bidace, Hourihane, J Ramsey, Chukwuemeka, Davis, Wesley.
