Life was never going to be easy for Aston Villa and Jordan Ayew down in the Championship, although perhaps no one expected it would be quite this hard.

Roberto Di Matteo’s side have bought astutely in the transfer market as they look to secure an immediate return to the Premier League, but the fallen giants appear no closer to finding the right formula after another miserable result in the second tier this weekend.

Five games into the new season, Villa find themselves down in 16th place—already six points off the automatic promotion places—and still searching for their second victory over the season.

They took the lead after only five minutes against Bristol City on Saturday when Jack Grealish found the net, but were unable to build on their lead and capitulated in the final half an hour.

Tammy Abraham equalised for the home side in the 59th minute, before goals from Joe Bryan and Lee Tomlin condemned the Villains to their second defeat of the season.

Jordan has typically featured on the right side of Villa’s midfield this season, but was used alongside Ross McCormack on Saturday, struggling to impress, and took five shots but failed to find the target with any.

He also picked up a booking to crown a disappointing afternoon.

The 24-year-old, who was named in Avram Grant’s latest Black Stars squad, appears set to stay at Villa Park beyond the end of the transfer window although the likes of Swansea City and West Bromwich Albion may still make a move for his services.