Mark Delaney spoke of his immense pride and hailed his “outstanding” Aston Villa youngsters following their memorable night against Liverpool.
The Young Lions, who had an average age of just 18, held a Liverpool side bursting with quality and experience for an hour at Villa Park, Louie Barry’s leveller just before half-time cancelling out Sadio Mane’s early opener.
Three goals in five second-half minutes, Georginio Wijnaldum getting on the scoresheet, Mane bagging his second and Mohamed Salah adding a fourth, ultimately won the FA Cup Third-Round Tie 4-1 for the dominant Reds.
But it was a night to be proud for Villa and their Academy, with 16 players making their first-team debuts in a side composing of the club’s Under-23 and Under-18 players.
And U23 boss Delaney, who was taking charge on the night, was hugely proud of his young players.
Speaking to VillaTV post-match, he said: “We were 1-0 down within five minutes and some might think the worst.
“The characteristics of the boys, their togetherness, the camaraderie between the group, they pulled themselves together, they didn’t let it faze them.
“Yes, Liverpool had quite a lot of the ball but we frustrated them and we talked about maybe having one or two bits of quality and chances to cause them a problem.
“And that one bit comes along and we score.
“Immensely proud, we are as an Academy, immensely proud.
“You’ve got to take your hat off to the players, they were outstanding.”
You can watch Mark’s full interview below…
