Caretaker boss Keith Millen has said he was happy with a point from our trip to Villa Park but he knows that had we been more clinical we could’ve come away with the win and all three that were on offer.
Speaking to Crystal Palace FC following the game, having already answered questions about new incoming manager Alan Pardew, Millen gave his thoughts on our scoreless draw.
‘Villa Park is always a tough place to come and this afternoon was no different. We knew Aston Villa pass the ball around well, they have a lot of movement and possession meaning we needed to keep our discipline and shape which we did. Looking back over the ninety minutes we had the best chance of the game when Yannick Bolasie went through in the first half. I thought the lads looked dangerous on the counter attack but I think we run out of legs by the end as we kept going at them.’
Millen adds that he walked off at full time ‘delighted with the lads commitment and organisation’ but again not taking our chances when they came along have cost us another win, that had we got it, he felt would’ve been justified given the problems we did cause them and the opportunities we made for ourselves.
Building from the back and staying tight though, Millen knew was the key to further improvement as we obviously have players that can change games going forward.
‘With players like Yannick, Wilf and Jason we have lads who have good pace and can cause problems on the break, we saw how that can play a part when Yannick broke to have his opportunity – that really was the chance of the game. He did a great touch across the defender and got his shot in past the goalkeeper but unfortunately it hit the crossbar.’
Adding that he knows if that had gone in, we were in pole position and with how we were defending, he doubts they’d have been able to get themselves back in the game, but it wasn’t to be.
‘They did have one good chance, but Julian pulled off a great save but apart from that I felt we kept at them but just couldn’t get the goal on the day.’
Positives though for him were he hands the team over now to Pardew with another point and another clean sheet, and whilst a win would’ve been better obviously, he’s happy enough with that.
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