Scott Carson: Aston Villa heading in right direction

May 15 2008 By Bill Howell

WHETHER he returns next season or not, Scott Carson believes Villa are heading in the right direction under Martin O’Neill.

Carson’s nine clean sheets in his 35 games helped Villa finish sixth and into the InterTotoCup in July which could lead to a place in the UEFA Cup.

“It’s been good for me at Villa”, he reflected. “We have got into the Intertoto Cup and maybe with a bit of luck we could have got straight into Europe.

“But finishing sixth is a good achievement. When I came here, getting into Europe was the aim and thats what we have done.

“I dont know what’s going to happen (to me), but hopefully the team do well.”

Carson can see a lot of potential in Villa’s young squad.

“You only have to look at the squad there are a lot of young players there and even the younger ones coming through are very talented”, he

said.

“Hopefully the manager will keep adding to it and developing it so the team can push on to the next step.”

Carson admits that Villa’s squad of 23 players- which has now been reduced by the loss of Patrik Berger, Olof Mellberg, Carson himself and

Thomas Sorensen- would not have survived a European campaign last year.

“The Champions League is the most difficult step to make. But we only had a small squad and it was difficult.

“We were very lucky we havent had that many injuries. The team that played every week didn’t let anyone down too many times.

“The main factor in our success last season is that we were consistent.”