Under-18 coaches Sean Verity and Liam Bramley expressed their delight for Aston Villa’s youngsters after they saw off Brighton & Hove Albion to reach the fifth round of the FA Youth Cup.
The Young Lions had to be patient at Villa Park and were rewarded for a dominant display by Kaine Kesler’s second-half opener and Aaron Ramsey’s brace in a 3-0 win.
Villa’s U18s, for whom five of the starting XI against the Seagulls now go on international duty with their respective nations, will await the draw for the next round of the prestigious youth competition.
And coaches Verity and Bramley both had plenty of praise for the players afterwards.
Speaking post-match, Verity said: “I’m delighted mostly for the lads, the way they’ve approached it.
“Obviously we were a little bit sticky in the first 20 minutes and there were one or two things they sorted out at half-time, the lads between themselves, about things that they needed to do.
“Second half we were totally dominant, I think you saw in the game, us pressing, being on the front foot, winning the ball back quickly.
“I think they probably got in our box twice in the second half, that’s no disrespect to them, that’s credit to us and how our lads approached it.
“And they get another chance in this competition to play again at somebody’s stadium or back here again, that’s the brilliant thing about this competition, these experiences that it gives them on their journey.”
Reflecting on the messages at half-time and the need for patience, Bramley added: “We did (speak to them), they knew that anyway, they knew that themselves.
“The lads, like Sean said, were coming up with some solutions themselves and being patient because they were very resolute in that first period in particular once they got around their box.
“And some of the creative play that our lads came up with, they weren’t quite getting the finishing touch to them – the final pass, the actual finish.
“We tried to instil in them and they instilled in themselves that they could do it and they stuck with that belief throughout.
“They got their rewards in the end, I thought it was a thoroughly dominant performance.
“It’s always nice when it works out that way, it doesn’t always, but it was nice that it worked in our favour here and we got what we felt we deserved.”
You can watch Sean and Liam’s full interview below…
