made a belated move up the Sky Bet Championship table with a nervous 2-1 home win over Nottingham Forest.
It was far from a conclusive victory for Villa despite taking a first-half lead through Albert Adomah.
Daryl Murphy scored a deserved second-half equaliser only for Conor Hourihane to clinch three points with a 60th-minute winner from a free-kick.
Villa increased their unbeaten run to six league games and, in the process, recorded their 11th win in 12 home games against Forest.
Forest, who have now been beaten in five of their last six games in all competitions, played with some early confidence with Barrie McKay their chief creator.