Jimmy Shan was pleased with the character and resilience shown by his Aston Villa side after they fought back to reach the last eight of the FA Youth Cup.
The Young Lions found themselves in a tough spot when they fell 2-0 behind to Bristol City early in the second half of their fifth-round tie, but they dug deep in order to produce a memorable comeback.
Mason Cotcher scored a hat-trick, finishing off his treble in the fifth minute of stoppage time to earn a quarter-final berth.
“We’ve said it from day dot to the boys that they get two hits [at the FA Youth Cup], first year scholar and second year scholar,” Shan said post-match.
“This time last season the Under-18s went out in the first round, so we needed to try and continue the cup run and go as deep as we can.
“Our mindset is to try and go all the way to the final and try to win it. It was a tough one to get through today, but there were positive signs and we’ll keep plugging away and keep building.”
Two set pieces produced two goals for the visitors, who played their part in an enthralling cup tie.
However, they couldn’t suppress Villa for long enough, with the hosts’ quality eventually shining through to set up a tie against Plymouth Argyle in the next round.
Shan said: “It was an exciting game for many, not so much for me just because of the goals we conceded.
“We knew they were going to be a direct threat. We knew they were going to be set play dominant. We conceded both free-kicks from needless fouls and that was disappointing.
“The lads showed loads of character, loads of resilience and we just told them to stick to task, believe in the process.”
