Ezri Konsa was delighted to see Aston Villa book their place in Monday’s FA Cup fourth-round draw.
Villa finally broke Middlesbrough resistance in the 87th minute of Saturday’s third-round tie at the Riverside.
After centre-back Konsa had seen his header rebound off a post earlier in the second half, fellow defender Cash lashed home a deflected strike from the edge of the area late on to seal the visitors’ progress.
It ensured Villa secured their spot in the hat for Monday night’s draw for the first time since 2016 following seven successive exits in the third round.
“Since I’ve been here, we’ve never been past the third round,” said Konsa post-match.
“So, it was tough, seeing the clock and it was 80 minutes, we’ve got 10 minutes left.
“All I could think about in my head was to get the win.
“I almost scored myself, but my right-back Matty Cash managed to get the win for us.
“I’m delighted for everyone.”
In-form Villa travelled to the north east for their first meeting with Boro since 2019.
And they were pushed all the way by the Championship side, who reached the play-offs last season and have progressed to the semi-finals of the League Cup this term.
“We knew it wasn’t going to be an easy game,” added Konsa.
“Middlesbrough are a good team, we saw what they did last season in the Championship.
“We knew we had to come here and be defensively strong. And I thought that’s what we did.
“The boys stuck together. There were periods in the second half when they put pressure on us and we dealt with it really well.
“And we managed to get the win in the end.”
Aston Villa are ball No.18 in the draw for the FA Cup fourth round, which will take place on Monday night at approximately 7.50pm.
