Villa Will Bounce Back

Martin O’Neill was mystified as to how Villa once again played well and lost a game after losing 3-1 to Newcastle last night.

The Villa boss said: ‘It’s hard to believe we’ve played so well and yet lost that one. I was very pleased with some of the football played tonight. We made a nightmare start and I’m not too pleased with the goals conceded, but after that, we outplayed Newcastle in the first-half. We continued to play well after the break, but the equaliser wouldn’t come.’

‘I felt John Carew had what should have been a goal disallowed in the second-half. He was penalised for pushing, but if anything he was the man being fouled. That probably summed-up our luck tonight. But Ashley Young got the goal he deserved on his debut and both new signings played extremely well. They linked-up like they’ve played together for years and that augurs well for the future.’

‘Overall, the travelling fans gave us a great reception because they knew how well we played, but I know that in three days time nobody will care about the performance – this is a results business. Now we have to get back to winning ways in what is a bi, big game against West Ham at Villa Park on Saturday.’

On the positive side, Ashley Young could have had a hattrick and looks like he could be a great player for us and John Carew, who still isn’t fully match fit, looked a real handful and despite it being disallowed, scored a perfectly good goal. He also looked like it wasn’t all brawn, he showed some great bits of skill and linked up nicely with Young.

Ashley Young told the official site: ‘We should have had all three points, but there were positive signs. I am happy to get the goal but disappointed that we didn’t get the three points because I felt that having got it back to 2-1 we could easily have gone on and won the game.’

Adding: ‘We showed a lot of character to come back into it. Having been at the club for the last few days I could tell that the lads have that character because of the team bond that there is. That’s why it is so disappointing not to get the three points.’

Next up, West Ham at Villa Park, lets pack the place out and show the Pink & Blues how the real Claret & Blues play!