Martin O’Neill Post Moscow Reaction

Martin O’Neill waxed lyrical on the official site after the 1-1 draw with SCKA Moscow last night.

He says the second leg is nicely set up and Villa still have a chance for the return leg in Moscow next week and adds that Villa aren’t just about effort, the team has quality as well.

‘People talk about effort and endeavour but I take exception about that being mentioned every week. We have some really, really quality players performing for this football club. They are tremendously gifted. Ashley delivers the sort of ball that makes me wish I was still playing. I would score 29 goals per season. He is putting in seriously brilliant deliveries. You do not have to do anything special to score from them. He is an exceptional deliverer.’

Adding, ‘Stiliyan was outstanding and Gareth too. I thought Gabby, coming off the centre-half to go short and collect, was brilliant as well. He is still developing. You can see the improvement in the team.’

The Villa boss also explained that James Milner missed the game thanks to a thigh injury and is hopefull he’ll be able to return on Saturday against Chelsea.

‘James wants to play every game but I took the doctor’s advice and left him out. He has a thigh problem. If he had played tonight, he would have been a doubt for the weekend.’