Shan reflects on Youth Cup success

Jimmy Shan was pleased with the application and professionalism from his side, after Aston Villa booked their place in the fourth round of the FA Youth Cup.

The Young Lions bagged six goals at Bodymoor Heath on Friday evening, against an Accrington Stanley team which ended the encounter with nine players.

Shan was happy to see his side stick to their task throughout and maintain positive habits.

He said: “I thought we played well. The game changed when they had a man sent off, and that can provide different challenges for you.

“But I think up until that point, 11v11, I thought we were the dominant team, in control, arguably could’ve been three or four up at that stage.

“From my point of view, I would have rather it stayed 11v11 and been a bit more of a challenge, at times, but I thought the lads were professional throughout, and stuck to the structure and stuck to the task.

“When a team go down to 10, then down to nine, they’re going to sit off and try and play on the counter, so for us it was about trying to get bodies onto their last line and stress their last line.

“There were moments where we were a little bit giddy and came off script and came off shape, but in the main, the lads stuck to the task, and I thought they were professional throughout.”

The Under-18 Head Coach also touched on the importance of his players testing themselves against a different threat, in the form of category three Accrington, and how this will only aid their development.

Shan added: “We played Sheffield United in a friendly last Saturday, and playing against different category clubs pose different problems.

“We were caused a few problems last week physically, and maybe if [Accrington] had 11v11, they may have done that for us today.

“They compete and they play a little bit different to your normal games programme, so it’s all good development and all good progress for the players.”