Luke can set new goals now

Oct 29 2007 By Bill Howell, Birmimgham Mail

MARTIN O'Neill is looking for Luke Moore to push on after the Villa striker ended his Premier League goal drought at the Reebok.

Moore secured a draw with his first goal of the season - and first since the draw at Bolton on the final day of last season - as Villa produced an improved second 45 minutes after a lacklustre first half.

"Luke's finally got a goal and I would imagine that's the type of break he's been dreaming of,'' said O'Neill.

"It was a goal he knew very little about, but it ended up in the net.

"It was good for Luke to get the goal. Regardless of how many good games you might have played, how many times you're first to the ball, goals are what strikers thrive on."

Moore had been dropped to the bench as one of four changes rung by O'Neill, but he wasted little time in making his mark after replacing Shaun Maloney at half-time.

"He hadn't got off the mark and just recently I thought he looked a wee bit tired. So we pulled him out and changed it around,'' the manager explained.

O'Neill was relieved with the point if not totally satisfied with his side's display. "I think that was a good point - in terms of the way we fought back. We were on the back foot to begin with and Bolton were geed up with a new manager coming in.

"With Nigel Reo-Coker out through suspension, we re-adjusted accordingly. But things weren't going right in the first half and I thought we were giving the ball away too easily. We conceded the goal and we were second to the ball for a lot of the first half, so I decided to make some changes at half-time.

"I thought on our second-half performance we deserved a point and we maybe even could have won it. I thought we weathered whatever was thrown at us in the second half.

"Bolton are a difficult team to play against, but we eventually got something out of the game and I'm pleased with that."