Swansea City held at home by Aston Villa

Aston Villa's Darren Bent, right, could find no way past the Swansea defence.

Swansea City and Aston Villa played out a subdued goalless draw at the Liberty Stadium in a game overshadowed by the death of Wales manager Gary Speed.

The death of the 42 year old was confirmed just over an hour before kick-off and a minute's silence was announced as the two sides lined up on the field, which quickly gave way to a spontaneous round of applause and chants of "there's only one Gary Speed".

There were four members of the Wales national squad involved in the game as Ashley Williams, Neil Taylor, Joe Allen and James Collins started for their respective clubs.

Villa goalkeeper Shay Given, who had played with Speed at Newcastle United, was in tears prior to kick off.

Given the overwhelming sense of sadness it was perhaps no surprise that the match was a drab affair. Substitute Leroy Lita fired narrowly wide with Swansea's best chance, while man-of-the-match Gabriel Agbonlahor was twice denied by Michel Vorm and Chris Herd headed wide.

* Press Association