Aston Villa's faithful have rallied around their keeper Sam Johnstone after his comical error made defeat certain in their 2-0 loss to Fulham.

The Cottagers finally put an end to Villa's seven match unbeaten run in the Championship this Saturday, with Johnstone's skewed clearance essentially gifting Fulham their second goal in a 2-0 win.

Ryan Sessegnon's neat finish after 52 minutes had put the Whites in front, but Johnstone's mistake put the game to bed after his misplaced free kick from the edge of the box landed straight at the feet of Floyd Ayite and the Fulham forward sent the ball into an empty net from just inside the halfway line.

Gaffer Steve Bruce refused to criticise the on-loan keeper, however, who is currently on loan from Manchester United and has played a vital role in his side's success this season.

He said: "I’m not criticising the lad, he’s been terrific all season.

"He’s tried to hit a diagonal, he’s snatched at it a bit and you have to say the boy’s controlled it and executed it fantastically well."

Villa fans were equally as defensive of their young keeper as their manager, and seemed especially protective after the BBC's Match of the Day Facebook page took the opportunity to jibe the young stopper.

Here's a selection of what they had to say on Twitter...

https://video.footballfancast.com/video-2015/ucl-wouldhavebeens.mp4