Aston Villa's Under-23s were on the wrong side of a seven-goal thriller on Friday night, as Stoke City won 4-3 at Bodymoor Heath.
Kaine Kesler and Aaron Ramsey (2) scored brilliant goals for the home side, but strikes from Lewis Macari, Douglas James-Taylor and D'Margio Wright-Phillips proved decisive.
Villa played some eye-catching football early on and Louie Barry's first time ball over the top caused problems inside two minutes, with Brad Young and Stoke goalkeeper Blondy Nna Noukeu colliding heavily.
Thankfully, both were okay to continue and Villa took the lead on eight minutes, with Kesler finding the bottom corner after a flowing move that started with Barry on the left-hand side.
Akos Onódi produced a couple of decent saves before Ramsey doubled the advantage, with a similar finish from a similar position.
Stoke fought back though and incredibly replied with four goals of their own before the half-time interval.
Macari headed home from a corner, James-Taylor finished off a duo of close-range chances for his brace, with Wright-Phillips getting the other goal to hand the visitors a 4-2 lead at the break.
The home side fought back well after the break and Young had a couple of decent opportunities, with one effort saved and another flying over the crossbar.
Ramsey won the ball back superbly and finished expertly with just over 20 minutes to play to reduce the deficit to one, and Villa set up camp in the Stoke half from that point on.
Barry moved into a more central role and went close as the clock wound down, with Ramsey inches away from completing his hat-trick with a long-range attempt.
Stoke held firm for all three points and to secure their seventh win on the bounce in Premier League 2, but Villa will be able to take plenty of positives from their second half display.
Aston Villa: Onodi; Walker, Bogarde, S. Revan, Chrisene; Raikhy (Appiah 64'), Lindley, A. Ramsey; Kesler (Sylla 77'), Young, Barry.
Substitutes: Zych, Swinkels, Afoka.
Stoke City: Nna Koukeu; Nixon, Taylor, Macari, Jones; Sy, Adebambo; Varian, James-Taylor, Wright-Phillips; Goodwin.
Substitutes: Hemfrey, Okagbue, Nash, Cargill, Fernandes
