Martin O'Neill admits that Birmingham City deserved a point against Aston Villa

Apr 26 2010 by Mark Woodward, Birmingham Mail

VILLA manager Martin O’Neill admits that Blues deserved a point from yesterday’s dramatic Second City showdown.

James Milner’s late penalty completed a derby double for this season and gave O’Neill his fourth win over Villa’s fierce rivals.

But the spot-kick was contentious after referee Martin Atkinson ruled that Roger Johnson’s challenge on Gabby Agbonlahor was a foul.

“Birmingham might feel aggrieved because I thought they played very well in the second-half,” said O’Neill. “They had some really great chances.

“On the second-half performance Birmingham definitely deserved something from the game. In the first-half I thought we did very well. We got sloppy in the second-half.

“We started off not so brightly, Birmingham got their tails up and continued to play very well and put us under pressure. It might have something to do with the fact that we played a game in midweek. But it’s been a great week and we’ve won a very, very important game.”

O’Neill is in favour of video technology to end the debate over controversial decisions like yesterday’s penalty award. “I’m sure at some stage in the next couple years that it will probably come in,” he added.

“I would welcome that. If rugby league can make decisions on tries and it doesn’t disrupt the game phenomenally, it’s worth a shout.”