BOSS PROUD AS CITY PASS THEIR CUP TEST
MICHAEL O’neill is delighted to see his young underdogs come of age as Stoke booked their place in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals.
Premier League Aston Villa were heavy favourites going into the fourth round tie at Villa Park, just like Wolves had been in the second round.
But it was Championship Stoke who emerged with another 1-0 win, this time courtesy of a firsthalf goal from Sam Vokes, as well as some brave and disciplined defending and fine goalkeeping from Adam Davies.
And they will now play Spurs at home in the quarter finals just before Christmas.
“It was a really good performance and we’re obviously delighted to go through against a very good team,” said O’neill. “It was a great experience for some of our younger players to come here and play at Villa Park, even though it’s empty. I thought we handled the game really well. Some of the football in the first half carried a threat and then when we needed to defend well for the last 15, 20 minutes, I thought we did that.”
He added: “The three centrebacks were outstanding. Nathan Collins has really come of age in this competition. Harry (Souttar) as well, and he’s played in the league as well.
“Josh Tymon was terrific at left wing-back and Jacob Brown at right wing-back as well. There are a lot of things to be positive about.
“The younger players, again, stood up to the test and it’s nice to add confidence heading into Sunday.” O’neill had made eight changes to his starting XI from a 1-0 Championship win at Preston on Saturday, tweaking his formation slightly to go with a 3-4-3 that put Nick Powell back in attack and Jacob Brown at right wing-back.
John Obi Mikel and Jordan Thompson patrolled central midfield and Josh Tymon got a chance to impress at left wingback. Adam Davies pulled off a couple of fine saves to collect his sixth clean sheet in seven games.
O’neill said: “He was there when he was needed. I thought he managed his box well, he’d doesn’t come and look for things when it’s unnecessary, but didn’t cause any problems for himself. He’s played well consistently.” He added: “Coming here you’re playing against a Premier League club and Premier League players. It’s a nice situation to be in, really. There’s not a lot to lose.
But they handled the game well and showed they can handle this level of football. We can take that forward to the Championship, which is a little bit different. We have to use these types of results to build confidence.”
The manager was pleased with how the system worked. “We played 3-4-3 and asked Nick Powell and Tyrese Campbell to give us a bit defensively,” he said. “We were disciplined within the structure, which is very, very important, and on the break we were dangerous. We could have created a little bit more with the opportunities we had but we had more of the game than at Wolves. “I think the system helped us a bit.”