By Dan Harrison

Gordon Cowans admits Villa's reserves struggled to find a creative spark in the defeat to Manchester City - but the coach was proud of the efforts of his young players.

The 2-0 defeat at Hyde United FC's Ewen Fields was a tough learning curve for a number of the club's academy stars, several of whom stepped up to reserves level for the first time.

The likes of Samir Carruthers, Daniel Johnson and Graham Burke lined up alongside more experienced players such as Ciaran Clark, Eric Lichaj and Jonathan Hogg.

Cowans, who took charge of the second string for the first time, could not fault the application of his players but felt they struggled to create enough clear cut opportunities.

The closest Villa came to scoring was Lichaj's disallowed effort early in the first period.

"I was disappointed, obviously," said Cowans. "But the lads couldn't have tried any harder in the second half.

"They really put a shift in and had a good go, although we never really created anything.

"I was just a little bit disappointed that we didn't create anything in the final third other than the goal that we scored which I thought was a good goal - Eric Lichaj has definitely come from behind the ball and has got himself into the box."

Cowans took positives from the performances of Villa's young stars and insists they will learn plenty from playing alongside those with first team experience, such as Clark and Lichaj.

"It was a good challenge," added the Villa coach. "We had some experience in there - the likes of Nathan Baker, Ciaran Clark, Shane Lowry, Jonathan Hogg and Eric Lichaj.

"It was a good game, I felt. They are a good side to be fair - they have got some good players.

"The young lads that came into the side will learn lot from this, playing against older, physically stronger players.

"Also playing with players who have played in the first team such as Ciaran Clark, they will learn from them and they will help them out too.

"It is only the first game but we will be disappointed with that and we need to get better."