Villa looked set to forge another comeback win when Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins propelled them into the lead.

But Delap, who had opened the scoring in the eighth minute at Portman Road, had other ideas.

At the end of a rapid counter-attack, Delap brilliantly bamboozled Diego Carlos before firing a left-footed effort into the bottom-right corner in the 72nd minute.

It might have been a hat-trick for Delap if not for Emiliano Martinez, who had made a fantastic save in a one-on-one with Ipswich's forward in the first half.

Pau Torres preserved a point for Villa with a brilliant last-ditch block from Wes Burns, while both goalkeepers were also called into action – by Ross Barkley and Jack Taylor respectively – late on.

Delap became the first Ipswich player to score a double in a Premier League match since Marcus Bent in March 2002 (against Newcastle United), and the youngest to do so in the competition for the Tractor Boys, at the age of 21 years and 234 days.

It was also his first career double in a league match.

Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna said his side can take "so many positives" from the resul.

"I think we created the better chances in the game, but when you come back from 2-1 down, a point is a good result," he said. "The team, at 2-1 down, never dropped their heads, and we were always competitive in the game.

"I thought the game had a really good flow to it with two good sides. To be competing with a team who have been together for three years with a top manager, I think there are so many positives to take for us.

"Four games unbeaten doesn't come easily in the Premier League. It is a fantastic first step, and we still feel there is a lot of improvement to come."

Villa missed the chance to move level on points with league leader Liverpool and although disappointed with the result, manager Unai Emery acknowledged it was an accurate reflection on the balance of play.

"We controlled the first half better than the second half," he said. "We started the first half very well; we came back, and we controlled the game really well. But in the second half, they were pushing.

"We had our chances, but we conceded more than normal, and we didn't control things like we did in the first half. I am not happy with the point, but I have to accept it because I think it is fair."

"They always put a lot of pressure on us, and we couldn't really implement our game plan," Watkins added. "We didn't get it right in the final third. We could have been more ruthless - myself included.

"They kept putting pressure on us. They're here at home; they made runs in behind and we grinded the result out in the end."