Mark Delaney has praised Aston Villa Under-23s for adding defensive “steel” to their game during the opening eight Premier League 2 games of the season.
The Young Lions are the division’s top scorers with 24 goals in eight games, but they’ve also managed to restrict their opponents at the other end of the pitch – something they struggled to do last term.
Ahead of their latest Premier League 2 game against Sunderland, which will be shown live on VillaTV+, Delaney is hoping Villa’s attackers will be the ones to find the net on Friday night.
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He said: “I remember last year there were some 4-4s and some 3-3s, so we don’t lack for excitement.
“I don’t want to put a kiss of death on it, but we do look like we’ve got a bit more steel about us this year and we don’t give away goals like we did last year, so that helps.
“We’re an exciting team going forward and now we’re a bit more steely at the back.”
Adding to the club’s exciting attacking talents, Declan Frith scored twice in last weekend’s derby win against Birmingham City at St Andrew’s, just days after signing for Villa.
The winger impressed on trial and Delaney is hoping he can continue to progress in claret and blue.
He said: “He’s settled in really, really well. We’ve been really pleased with him. The first part was a trial scenario and in the games he played, we saw something in him.
“He has a really good character – he wants to learn, he wants to get better and he scored a couple of goals on Saturday, which is what we’ve been asking of him.
“He’s got the ability to create and score goals, so we’re pushing him to up his assists and his goal ratio.”
