Manager Mick McCarthy was disappointed that his side conceded former Blue Darren Bent’s equaliser just after half-time as Town exited the FA Cup at the third round stage after losing 2-1 at Aston Villa.

McCarthy said: “As you can imagine, I’m chewing about the goal we conceded just after half-time, but if you give them the opportunity to do it, they’ll do it and we just gave them that opportunity, to be fair.

“We sorted the problem with N’Zogbia out in the first half, we nullified that and then we went and scored. We allowed it to happen and it changed the course of the game that goal.

“Once we stopped N’Zogbia playing in behind, I don’t think they got near us in the first half. In the second half, having conceded after 45 seconds or whatever it was, it was always going to be tough and they were on top for a good part of it. But I still felt that we settled down and had a couple of good chances ourselves.”

McCarthy said he was happy with new loan signings Patrick Kisnorbo, David McGoldrick and Aaron Mclean: “Very pleased. Patrick’s not played at that level or at that intensity for a long time and it speaks volumes for the way he’s kept himself right and fit because he got through the 90 minutes.

“The two lads who came on, David looked like he was finding his sea legs for a while, it bounced off him a couple of times, but he created a great chance for us near the end there and as he got into the game was fine.

“As for Aaron, he looks a real handful, well, he is a handful, I’ve seen him. I was pleased with their contributions.”

The Town boss also had praise for keeper Scott Loach, who was making his first appearance under his management: “I thought he played well, he acquitted himself well. You get one opportunity to make a good first impression. I thought he played well in the game.”

McCarthy was also impressed with the way 18-year-old Elliott Hewitt, who was making his first start for the Blues, coped at right-back: “The way they were playing with the wide left and the full-back coming forward, I thought he did particularly well. Then they put Agbonlahor up against him and he’s a handful for anybody.

“He’s another one that hadn’t played at that level, at that intensity, so it was pleasing that he got through it.”

The Blues manager admits that a replay wouldn’t have been ideal but says that he would have welcomed an equaliser: “Not particularly, but I didn’t want to lose.

“It’s funny after you lose, you say ‘Oh well, we wouldn’t have wanted a replay’. But at 90 minutes when we were pressing I’d have took a goal and took a replay.

“But it may have got in the way. It’s not going to get in the way now, so there’s no point in talking about it.”

Overall, he feels Town continue to move in the right direction: “Very much so. The performance as a whole, especially conceding as we did. In the past we’ve gone on and conceded another one and another one, we’ve lost by five and six by doing that.

“We didn’t, and having weathered that, we looked like we might have nicked it, we had a couple of chances. So, that’s a real improvement. There were some positives in it, some pluses certainly.”

McCarthy says the signings of McGoldrick and Mclean don’t mean that he’s given up the chase for DJ Campbell: “No, not really, we’re trying to do a permanent deal.

“I knew he was going back to play, so there was no sense in me speaking to Harry again. I spoke to DJ last night, wished him well and told him that I’d still like to sign him.”

Campbell played the full 90 minutes as his parent club QPR drew 1-1 at home to West Brom, with another former Blue Kieron Dyer netting a last-gasp equaliser.

Villa boss Paul Lambert thought his side deserved the win: “The onus is always on the home team especially when you play against a team from below you in a different division, so it’s always tough and that’s the first hurdle that you have to overcome. Then you go a goal down, but all credit to the team, I thought we deserved to go through.

“The first goal gave us a little setback but we never panicked or anything, we kept on playing the way we were and I thought our first goal was exceptional, the move was very good.”

Photo: Action Images

Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 09:58 - Jan 6 Agree with several of the above comments as follows: 1) We are certainly building for the future; 2) This was, if that is possible, a "positive" defeat; and 3) The away support was great - at least judging by what you could hear on the Internet. Well done again to the away crowd. Looking forward to better things in second half of the Championship season (but not taking anything for granted just yet).

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brittaniaman added 10:05 - Jan 6 Villa have always been our fly in the ointment,, even going back to the Robson days Villa was our Bogey team.. But never mind, just glad that we put up a good show yesterday against them, and got some experiance for our fringe players to show what they can achieve in our highest profile match of the season ????? COYB !!!!
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Strikes added 12:37 - Jan 6 More positives than negatives for me although still a little gutted as I felt Villa were there for the taking. Hewitt and Loach impressed, JET and Nigel Real-Stinker didn't. Great away support though and a good day out.
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CobboldNeal added 22:40 - Jan 6 Was at the game: Loach was great pulled off the saves he could, Hewitt looked like a really good prospect, defended well and wasn't afraid to get forward but tired towards the end (understandably hence the Carlos coming on to protect him down that side), Creswell played well and looked comfortable against premiership opposition. Kisnorbo and Smith did excellent considering they have never played together - Kisnorbo looks tidy. JET was my big disappointment — I thought this was set up for him to make an impact but he never managed a mazy run or a fizzer from outside the box although he did thread a couple of dangerous through balls. Hyam maybe got found out a little bit — he worked hard but ended up being booked for persistant fouling (having being warned) and then could have been sent off for a bad tackle at the very end however he did put through an excellent ball in the final stages to set one of our strikers free. Reo K actually had imo his best game I have seen for Town — maybe a bit more time on the ball helped. Maritn, Murphy and Chopra worked hard as you would expect and put in a decent shift without being outstanding. Overall we came away feeling that we deserved a draw and that the team and the fans had done the Club and Town proud. This was a case of being able to hold your head high even in defeat.

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blueash78 added 00:37 - Jan 7 Kisnorbo was a big plus to me. Apart from his rugby tackle after 10 minutes that got him a yellow card, he marshalled the defence like a long playing town captain rather then a player making his debut . What was impressive to me was that he made the most effort to come over to the town fans at the end of the game, reminded me of how Matt Holland always made an effort to show his appreciation for the support. Imo would be a good permanent signing if possible.

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