John Carew praises Aston Villa young fliers

Apr 29 2009 by Mathew Kendrick, Birmingham Mail

“Ashley has been outstanding this season and James has been great as well, one of the most important players for the club this season as well.”

Carew insists that the players understand and share the fans’ frustration at a slump which has seen Villa blow their chance of Champions League qualification.

“The fans have been fantastic all season,” he said.

“It is not only hard for us, but it’s hard for them to see us creating such a big opportunity for ourselves and having qualification for the Champions League in our hands only to see it slip away.

“It’s frustrating for everyone who has an interest in the club, players, fans, everybody.”

Carew, who is now Villa’s 13-goal joint top scorer alongside Agbonlahor, believes the 11 game winless run is still playing on the players’ minds. 

“We haven’t won in a while,” he added.

“We are not a worse team than before, but you start to go a game or two without winning and it becomes psychological.

“We haven’t been strong enough lately because we are good enough and we have been playing well.

“Something has just happened. You can see it happens in so many clubs around.”