Aston Villa: Martin O'Neill delight as Aston Villa back in top five

Dec 7 2009 by Lisa Smith, Birmingham Mail

Martin O'Neill

VILLA boss Martin O’Neill was thrilled with his team’s performance over Hull City which saw them regain their place in fifth spot in the Barclays’ Premier League ahead of Manchester City and Liverpool.

O’Neill admitted the first half performance had been really impressive although the game had gone off the pace in the second half.

First Hull favourite Jimmy Bullard had to be helped off the pitch after aggravating his left knee and then the game was slowed due to the intervention of referee Stuart Attwell who was forced to reach for his pocket book five times – three times in the final half of the game.

The Villa boss, who saw his side cruise to victory over Phil Brown’s men thanks to goals from Richard Dunne, James Milner and a John Carew penalty after Ashley Young was felled by City keeper Matt Duke, said: “In the first half I thought we played really, really well. Our first goal I thought should really have been our third one.

“We deserved the 2-0 lead at half-time.

‘‘The players were playing great and there was a lot of fluidity about the team.”

O’Neill continued: “The second half was really stop-start and maybe it was because of the injuries but it never really seemed to get going properly.

“I was really pleased overall though with the win and pleased with the performance, particularly the first half.” O’Neill said.

Villa face a tricky trip to Old Trafford next weekend looking to steal further ground on the teams at the top.