Aston Villa played out an entertaining 2-2 draw on the first Championship matchday of 2019 yesterday afternoon at Villa Park.

Their guests, QPR, had gone in front at 2-1 during the game and they looked on their way for a big three points in the race for the play-offs.

Tammy Abraham, though, had other ideas and bagged another brace - including the all-important equaliser for the club.

Certainly, it was an engrossing game for onlookers and Dean Smith will once again have learned something about his side as they racked up another draw in the second tier.

With that in mind, then, we've also taken a closer look at the match and the result to see what we could take away from the clash as Villa look to have a successful 2019.

Here, then, are three things we learned as Villa drew 2-2 with the R's on the opening day of the new year at Villa Park...

Speculation is rife over Abraham's future and it seems as though Wolves are very keen to bring him in during this window.

Villa will obviously want to keep him, though, with him scoring another two goals yesterday.

For sure, if he leaves the club he will be missed.

Bree hasn't always had a good time of it at Villa Park but he seems to be growing as a player under Dean Smith.

He enjoyed a solid performance again in a more familiar full-back role and will be confident of keeping his place in the weeks to come.

Villa's defensive issues have been well-documented but it seems as though they have the makings of something now.

Both Jed Steer and Tommy Elphick played and though there was no clean sheet recorded there were some positive signs for fans to hold on to.