Aston Villa manager Alex McLeish has said that the 1-1 draw with Everton is the least result that he expected to see in this match.
Aston Villa were coming into the match with a desperate need of points, which would help them rise up to the top half of the table. Aston Villa has certainly been very poor over the festive fixture list, which has meant that they have dropped out of the top half of the table.
Teams like Swansea and Sunderland have overtaken Aston Villa, who are expected to challenge for the Europa League places this season. Due to the intense pressure on Alex McLeish, the manager has said that the 1-1 draw with Everton has not been of a massive help for the team.
Darren Bent scored the goal for Aston Villa, which was cancelled out by the Victor Anichebe goal for Everton. Both teams were fielding their new signings. In the case of Aston Villa, they were fielding their new loan signing Robbie Keane, while Everton had just concluded the permanent signing of Darron Gibson for just £ 2 million from Manchester United. David Moyes would have been extremely happy with the response from his midfielder, who has been unhappy with Manchester United over the game time he has received this season.
“I thought our performance was very good, especially in the second half. I’ve spoken long and hard this week about concentration levels and attention levels and I thought it was much better today. The work rate was better, we feel that should be a given and that sort of attitude brings you quality,” Aston Villa manager Alex McLeish said after the match. The result now means that Aston Villa are currently in the 13th position with 24 points on the board.