Gombau ‘so happy’ with Young Lions character

Josep Gombau lauded the character on display from his youthful side, after Aston Villa Under-21s booked their place in the last 16 of the Vertu Trophy.

The Young Lions overcame League One side Blackpool, winning a thrilling penalty shoot-out 18-17 at Bloomfield Road, after coming back from behind to draw 1-1 in 90 minutes.

Gombau praised the mentality of the team, and how they conducted themselves throughout the contest.

Villa’s Under-21 Head Coach said: “We are so happy with them. Everybody worked a lot and ran a lot.

“We know to try to get a good result here, we needed to do the job very well. We needed to be together, and we needed to run.

“In youth football, you play more when you have the ball, but in this kind of game, when you play against professional teams, you need to think how to defend, how to be compact and together, and this was the idea yesterday in training.

“I think the lads played very well, and everyone showed passion and intensity that you need to win a game.”

Having already overcame Bolton Wanderers on penalties in the group stage, Gombau’s side have now won two shoot-outs out of a possible two in this competition.

The Spaniard was pleased with the composure and bravery his players showed, with several being made to take more than one kick, after coming close to winning the game in 90 minutes.

“The mentality of the team was very good,” he added.

“It’s not that we scored and we drew, we had two good chances to go ahead. We had one that hit the post, and then the last kick of the game in that corner also, we hit the post.

“I thought it was a very equal game, but we deserved a little bit to win the game in the 90 minutes.

“After that, the penalties, also, we showed character. Very young lads were taking the shooting, 16-17 years old, facing this kind of pressure that you need to score to win. And it’s not one, it’s 19 penalties.

“We practice every time we play a cup competition, because we know it can end like this.

“The players are getting used to this, and you can see sometimes, even when we don’t ask them to do it, they are practicing for a cup competition, which is very good. It’s important they have this aim.

“We need to be happy, and I think it’s a good reward for the work that they put in, and a nice way to finish this year.

Now, we can have a few weeks off for Christmas with a good flavour.”