Gareth Southgate's men remain in the table's penultimate spot with 32 points, one ahead of West Bromwich Albion, who will meet Liverpool on Sunday.

Turkish striker Sanli Tuncay put the home side ahead on 14 minutes with an amazing overhead kick, before some sloppy defending allowed John Carew to level for Villa in the 57th minute.

Now Boro are two points less than Teeside rivals Newcastle United, who remain eighteenth after losing 1-0 to Fulham.

At St. James' Park, Alan Shearer's SOS calls to save his team from relegation weren't enough to prevent the Magpies from succumbing to the narrow defeat.

Diomansy Kamara scored the only goal of the game four minutes before the half-time whistle.

In another game, Bolton Wonderers and Hull City played out a 1-1 draw at the Reebok Stadium to leave Hull in seventeenth with 35 points.

Saturday's results mean that the Premiership's relegation battle will be taken to the wire with one league round to go.

While Middlesbrough will travel to West Ham United and Newcastle will face Aston Villa in Birmingham, Hull will host league champions Manchester United on the final day of the season.