former Leicester player, scored a penalty which took the Lancashire side into the new league. At the end of the 1992–93 season, Leicester qualified for the playoffs again in the new Division One. They overcame Portsmouth in the semi-finals but in the final were 3–0 down shortly after half-time to Swindon Town. They fought back to bring the scoreline to 3–3, however Swindon scored a controversial late fourth goal from the penalty spot to progress to the Premier League. In 1993–94, however, Leicester won their third consecutive play-offs with a 2–1 win in the final against East Midlands rivals Derby County. In November 1994 Little returned to Aston Villa to replace Ron Atkinson. Leicester's first Premier League season was a difficult one and they were relegated in second from bottom place, with just six league wins all season. Earlier in the year, former Middlesbrough youth coach Little had been linked with a return to the Teesside club as manager following the departure of Lennie Lawrence, but the job went to Bryan Robson instead. Aston Villa Eighteen months earlier, Aston Villa had finished runners-up in the first Premier League. When Little arrived they were at the foot of the division. A 1–1 draw with relegated Norwich City on the last day of the season meant that Little was successful in his bid to keep Villa in the Premiership. Under Little, young players like Mark Bosnich and Ugo Ehiogu were now getting more first team chances, but Villa also made a large number of new signings between November 1994 and August 1995, including Gary Charles, Ian Taylor, Mark Draper and Savo Milošević. The new look Villa team gelled well, and 1995–96 was a successful season at Villa Park. The club finished fourth in the Premiership, reached the FA Cup semi-finals and won the Football League Cup with a 3–0 win over Leeds United at Wembley. Trinidad and Tobago striker Dwight Yorke had now firmly established himself as a potent goalscorer. Villa qualified for the 1996–97 UEFA Cup and although they were knocked out at the first stage by Swedish side Helsingborg, they qualified for the 1997–98 competition after finishing fifth in the Premiership. In February 1998, Little resigned after just over three years as Aston Villa manager, with the club in the bottom half of the Premiership, the club's next manager John Gregory turning results around. They finished the season high enough