Stoke 0, Aston Villa 0: Mat Kendrick's big match verdict
BATTLE-weary, on the defensive and frustrated – and that was just the manager as Villa left the Britannia Stadium feeling flatter than an oatcake.
Although a point on the Potters’ patch should not be underestimated, Martin O’Neill’s disappointed demeanour hinted that this was two dropped for his Champions League chasers.
But, if as Sir Alex Ferguson suggested before the Carling Cup final, Villa are a team assembled in O’Neill’s own image, then they and he are just as likely to hit back with a determined glint in their eyes.
On Saturday, the Villa boss was more interested in holding the bridge of his nose, the way he does when he is stressed, while his players were holding theirs after a battle packed with flailing elbows and bruising challenges.
However, it is how O’Neill and his top-four-seeking troops hold their nerve over their next 11 league games which matters now.
The major concern is the fatigue factor as Villa’s select band of first team favourites fight on through a gruelling fixture schedule with little assistance from the subs’ bench.Not since Chris Price last donned claret and blue has anybody connected with the club needed a substantial fringe more than O’Neill’s squad does right now.
And if the gaffer is starting to visibly display the effects of a draining campaign, then think how his players feel after the same side which roared past Reading was asked to go again on Saturday.
The boss has pledged to rest and rotate his squad before the month is out and their stiff test in Staffordshire is sure to have taken its toll ahead of tomorrow night’s rearranged trip to Wigan.
That Villa were able to stand up strong to Stoke was a tribute to the spirit and resilience in O’Neill’s dressing room, although, while this particular observer thought it was a positive point, the manager seemed decidedly downbeat.
Still, like his players on the pitch, O’Neill had defiant, if not always convincing, answers for most of the questions posed at the Britannia Stadium.
Saturday’s draw has left Villa six points off the top four but they still have two games in hand on fourth-placed Tottenham with home fixtures against struggling Wolves and Sunderland after tomorrow’s equally winnable visit to Wigan.
So, despite their dejection, the claret and blues are right to suggest that a point in the Potteries could yet prove crucial during the final reckoning in mid-May, particularly given the circumstances in which it was earned.
