Mark Delaney felt his Young Lions were unlucky to come away empty-handed from their Premier League 2 opener against West Bromwich Albion on Monday.
The Under-23s boss saw his side concede two injury-time penalties in their 3-1 loss to the Baggies.
And after his team put in a much-improved second half display, Delaney felt they were unfortunate to lose the game.
“Going in at half-time, 1-0 was probably a fair result – they deserved to win that half,” he said.
“We had a chat about a few things at half-time and we saw more of what we’re about in the second half.
“We played much better football, people were more comfortable on the ball and we caused them a lot of problems in the final third.
“But for a decision or a better finish, we could have come away with something today.”
When Jaden Philogene-Bidace equalised with nine minutes left, Villa were in the ascendency and pushing for a winner.
The late setback was a blow, but Delaney is optimistic for the rest of the season as they look to bounce back against Norwich City on Friday night.
He said: “To get the goal back was pleasing and then we thought we’d go on and win it.
“The penalty decision was a 50-50 that I don’t think you could definitely say that was a pleasing.
“Footballing-wise we played some really good football. It was the other side of the game which they need to be a more streetwise with against teams who play more direct.
“We’ll work on that side of the game because that’s a big part of it. There are things we’ve got to get better at, but I was pleased with how we played in the second half.”
