PUBLISHED
18:30 13th January 2014
by Adam Tighe
We weathered the storm in the first 20 minutes and then grew in confidence"
Simon Ireland
ASTON VILLA ********1Simon Ireland
80
ALBION ******************1
Harris 70
Aston Villa struck with ten minutes to go to deny Albion’s under-21s victory in a friendly match.
Charlie Harris’s calmly taken goal on 70 minutes gave the Seagulls the lead but Villa hit back to level the game.
Under-21 coach Simon Ireland admitted he was a lot happier with his side’s display in Birmingham compared to the performance in the 1-0 friendly defeat at Southampton last week.
He told seagulls.co.uk, “We were disappointing against Southampton last time but we saw a reaction today in how we passed the ball against a good side. We pride ourselves on how we pass the ball around and last week we didn’t show that but today we had some good possession for long spells.
“We weathered the storm in the first 20 minutes and then grew in confidence. There is a thin line between fearing and respecting an opponent, especially when up against a Premier League side, so you have to trust your own ability; we certainly gave as good as we got."
Albion: Walton [Smith 45]; Deen, Dallison, Maksimenko, Hunt; Asmundsson, Rea, Harris, Richards; Dickenson, Muitt.*
Subs not used: Barnett, Larusson, Davis.
Original article