Dean Smith was delighted to see Ollie Watkins get off the mark on his Aston Villa debut.
The striker equalised against Burton Albion with a smart finish before Jack Grealish and Keinan Davis secured their passage through to the Third Round of the Carabao Cup.
And Smith was happy with what he saw from his new signing.
He said: “His movement was great and he’s showing signs of some link-up with the other players, which takes time.
“I have no qualms over how good he’ll be for Aston Villa, not only this season but in seasons to come.
“He got one tonight and he’ll be disappointed he didn’t get a couple more because he had a couple of chances.”
Watkins and his new teammates toiled early on as Burton flew into challenges and snatched the lead after 72 seconds.
But the Villa boss was pleased to see his team tested before they begin their Premier League campaign against Sheffield United on Monday.
He said: “They started the game really brightly and we didn’t have the competitive edge we needed.
“We’ve had to work very hard to get back into the game. We showed some bits of quality when we needed it and some brightness around the penalty box to create some chances.
“We have to be better; we know that. For me, that was a game of blowing the cobwebs off and we did what we needed to do.”
