Cup exit for Clarets

It turned the game Villa’s way and no matter what we tried and how well we played there was to be no equaliser and over 3,000 Burnley fans, who at times gave the team superb support, could only reflect on a night out in a magnificent stadium.

We knew their had to be one change to the side, with Micah Hyde ruled out through suspension, and there was a further blow when the team was announced with John McGreal also missing through injury. That saw Chris McCann and Keith Lowe come in, and how well they both played, from the team that had lost at Palace. It meant, as we suggested yesterday, places on the bench for two youth team players, goalkeeper Mark Crossley and striker Marc Pugh.

Discussing the game with Villa fans before kick off, and I never realised just how much they dislike David O’Leary, it was suggested that the best way to play them and beat them is to go out and attack them. I suspected that wouldn’t be our way and it wasn’t. In a quiet start we set our stall out to keep things tight and not to open things up.

The first half in each of our last two league games has been less than exciting and so it was again for much of the time. We didn’t trouble them too much and to be honest, a few crosses apart and one Angel header, there was little to worry us.

That was until the Phillips goal, it came out of the blue and was the first real chance of the game, from then on we were going to have an uphill battle to get back into it. Coming from behind at a Premiership club is not the easiest of tasks.

Our response was a couple of shots from distance that failed to trouble the other Danish goalkeeper on view whilst Villa never threatened to double their lead during the remainder of the first half.

If we were to get back into the game we needed to change things, we needed to put the Villa defence under more pressure and push forward more, again Ade Akinbiyi had been too often isolated up front and this is clearly not a way to get the best out of the striker.

The second half was to see a different Burnley, over the next forty-five minutes we put Villa under some pressure, and on more than one occasion came close to scoring the equaliser that would have taken the game into extra time.

James O’Connor, my man of the match, played as well as he’s ever played for us during that second period and seemed to prompt attack after attack, where it all seemed to go wrong was when it came to the final ball. All too often it was not good enough and despite having so much of the ball, and getting forward we wasted too many opportunities with bad balls into the box.

There were times when Villa, the Premiership side playing at home, could do no more than defend and hope to maybe catch us on the break, but probably that defending could just have been made a little more difficult for them.

With time running out Steve Cotterill decided to make some changes and he brought on Gifton Noel-Williams and Danny Karbassiyoon for the once again very disappointing Wade Elliott and John Spicer.

Nobody came closer than Danny with what was his first touch in the first team for the Clarets. He latched on to a cross from Michael Duff and volleyed towards goal, only a deflection turned it away for a corner as it looked to be heading for the corner.

As time run out the whole away end went up for a penalty for handball, there was no way on earth impressive referee Uriah Rennie could see it from his position on the edge of the box with the player facing the crowd. The assistant clearly didn’t want to know and the last chance was gone.

The performance never came close to reaching the heights of a year ago, on that occasion we more than deserved our 3-1 win. This time round we were disappointing for the first half of the game but gave it a real go in the second half and with just a little more luck and with a better final ball we might still have been in the Carling Cup.

The two players who came in, Lowe and McCann, both had excellent games. Young Chris surely has done enough to retain his place in the side for Friday. He tired towards the end but had more than played his part. The best I can say about Lowe is that we didn’t miss Johnny Mac, he played that well.

Alongside him captain Frank Sinclair was immense, a superb captain’s performance and then for me there was James O’Connor, often criticised but at his best, particularly during that second half.

We didn’t let ourselves down, we didn’t go to a Premiership ground and get a pasting, now we really have to concentrate on getting some league points and moving up the table, that is until the FA Cup comes around.

The teams were,

Aston Villa: Thomas Sorensen, Mark Delaney, Olof Mellberg, Liam Ridgewell, Jlloyd Samuel, James Milner, Gavin McCann, Steve Davis, Gareth Barry, Juan Pablo Angel (Luke Moore 78), Kevin Phillips. Subs not used: Stuart Taylor, Eric Djemba-Djemba, Ulises de la Cruz, Patrik Berger.

Burnley: Brian Jensen, Michael Duff, Keith Lowe, Frank Sinclair, Jon Harley, Wade Elliott (Gifton Noel-Williams 74), John Spicer (Danny Karbassiyoon 78), James O’Connor, Chris McCann (Duane Courtney 90), Garreth O’Connor, Ade Akinbiyi. Subs not used: Mark Crossley, Marc Pugh.

Referee: Uriah Rennie (Sheffield).

Attendance: 26,872.