McCarthy: Two Pivotal Moments Monday, 7th Jan 2013 06:00 Boss Mick McCarthy felt Saturday’s 2-1 FA Cup third round defeat at Aston Villa turned on two pivotal moments, his former Ireland keeper Shay Given saving from Michael Chopra soon after the Blues had gone in front and ex-Town striker Darren Bent equalising within a minute of the restart. It was conceding the goal which irked the Blues boss the most: “I think we did have a bit of a chance. I think we gave a good account of ourselves. “We’ll never know what we would have done in the second half if we’d have kept it to 1-0. We let them off the hook by giving a goal away after 45 seconds.” Chopra, who has subsequently claimed the Blues’ strike although most sources have put it down as an Eric Lichaj own goal, was unfortunate not to put his side further ahead soon after from a superb Aaron Cresswell cross, Given saving with his knees and the ball looping rather fortunately into his arms. McCarthy said the result might not have been the same had he scored but that he was pleased with Chopra’s overall display: “The game would have been different if his chance had gone in. I thought he did well, I was pleased with his performance.” Although annoyed with the way his side conceded Bent’s goal, he had praise for the way the Town academy graduate took the opportunity created by Charles N’Zogbia: “It’s nice to have that quality, £27 million [the combined fees Villa paid for Bent and N’Zogbia]. "You’d expect him to get one because he’s a good finisher, and he was against his old team. “I think our part in it helped them, but it was real quality, two passes and a good finish. It happens when you play at this level, you get punished unfortunately.” The Town manager also had praise for Shay Given, someone he knows well from his time with Ireland: “He’s always been a pain in the side when he’s played against me, but he was one of the main reasons we got to the World Cup. He’s wonderful, he’s a great guy and he’s a true, top pro and I love him to bits. “When we qualified for the World Cup [in 2002] and we beat Iran he made two saves one-v-one at home that enabled us to go to Iran 2-0 up and get through. He was magnificent for me, just fabulous. I thought he was the best in the Premier League for a long time. “But I think if Chops had put it a yard either side of him he wasn’t stopping it, to be honest, I think he gleefully grabbed it when it dropped into his hands.” McCarthy was pleased to be able to watch fringe players such as Chopra, Scott Loach and Luke Hyam in first-team action but warns that winning a place his first XI isn’t easy at present: “It gives me a chance to look at them but I’ve picked the same team for four or five games on the bounce, so you also must assume that that’s my best team — we’ve had good results. “What is important is that players get a chance to play at that level so I know that they can come in and if I want to change it, I can.” Overall, McCarthy says his focus remains the same as it did on the day he took over as Town boss: “Staying up was my remit and that’s not changed as far as I’m concerned because I’ve seen it where people go in and have an impact but suddenly find themselves back in the bottom three because they have a couple of defeats. “We're going to Cardiff, then we’ve got some of our nearest and dearest rivals coming along, so it’s still vitally important we keep our eye on that.”
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