Saturday, 07 January 2012 22:15
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Alex McLeish: Was pleased with Villa's commanding display at Bristol Rovers
Alex McLeish hailed the mentality of his players after Aston Villa beat Bristol Rovers 3-1 at the Memorial Stadium to advance to the fourth round of the FA Cup.
Marc Albrighton, Gabriel Agbonlahor and Ciaran Clark gave Villa a comfortable lead before some poor defending allowed Scott McGleish to score for the League Two side in the 90th minute.Villa then conceded a penalty in stoppage time when Stephen Warnock handled the ball, but Brad Guzan comfortably saved McGleish's spot kick.Villa boss Alex McLeish was satisfied with the way his team managed the game, saying: "It was a very pleasing performance."We knew it could be a potential banana skin but the players dealt with it well and handled the extra pressure and I thought they had a great mentality."We got a bit sloppy at the death and a wee bit complacent and we were punished. I thought 3-2 would make it look like a real close encounter."McLeish also reserved praise for Clark following an impressive performance.He said: "The kid has got a touch of class. He can pass the ball, he did a really good job for us as a central midfielder so it's a great boost to have someone like Ciaran playing so well."FrustratedBristol Rovers caretaker manager Shaun North, who assumed temporary control of the Pirates following former manager Paul Buckle's departure on Tuesday, was frustrated with the goals given away by his side."The boys gave 100 per cent," said North. "We knew we weren't going to have a lot of the ball but we tried to keep some shape."We were a little disappointed with the goals we conceded. The boys got a bit tired at the end. It would have been nice to make it 3-2 as people don't remember the game, they remember the scoreline."We had to make sure we were in the game after 15 to 20 minutes, and we were, and then we conceded a goal."They came at us and stepped it up a bit but towards the end we became a bit stronger."Read more http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11095/7417594/
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