George Burley confessed to being "shell-shocked" after watching his side crumble to defeat at Villa Park.
The Ipswich Town boss felt his troops did at least enough to earn a point after carving out an early lead through Alun Armstrong.
Villa hit back thanks to two goals after half-time by Julian Joachim.
Burley said: "It was very disappointing because it was a match we should never have lost. We were in control and their goals came from nowhere.
"We've got to look at the way we gave them away because if you make mistakes like that you get punished. We virtually threw the points away, in terms of conceding bad goals.
"I was pleased with the way my players went about their jobs, though. I couldn't fault their effort or commitment. The boys are sick that they didn't get anything from the game. It was a total shock for everyone to lose."
Burley was pleased with the performance of debut-maker Chris Makin, signed from Sunderland on Wednesday.
"I thought Chris looked very solid," he said. "In fact, apart from giving two bad goals away, the back four were always comfortable."
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