Source: Team_Talk
Houllier hails Villa subs after win
Gerard Houllier praised the impact of substitutes Emile Heskey and Stewart Downing after Aston Villa's 2-1 Carling Cup win over Burnley.[LNB] Heskey opened the scoring in the second half and, after Clarke Carlisle had equalised for the visitors, Downing's stunning strike settled Wednesday night's fourth-round tie at Villa Park six minutes into extra-time.[LNB]Villa boss Houllier, who twice won the League Cup with Liverpool, said: "I don't take credit for the subs. I wanted to rest them.[LNB]"But, with other players tiring, they made a difference.[LNB]"Subs have to be in the right frame of mind, have the right attitude.[LNB]"If the hunger is there, they can make a difference. Their freshness can bring initiative - and they did that.[LNB]"Emile came on and changed the game."[LNB]Houllier, who lost John Carew through illness before the game, was full of praise for Burnley.[LNB]He said: "Credit to them, they played well. We made it difficult. We should have scored at least one in the first half.[LNB]"That affected our confidence. We didn't play as well as we should have done in the second half.[LNB]"They really wanted it, credit to them. We really wanted it too, which is good."[LNB]Villa winger Marc Albrighton will miss the derby with Birmingham on Sunday through suspension after a professional foul on Wade Elliott.[LNB]Houllier said: "Mark's sending off was a fair decision. He didn't touch him (Elliott) a lot but I've no complaints."[LNB]Burnley boss Brian Laws felt it was an injustice that his side has gone out of the competition.[LNB]Laws said: "I've got to say, football is cruel at times, and tonight for us it was. We didn't deserve the result.[LNB]"The performance was outstanding, with terrific play from us at times. We are very unfortunate not to be in the hat for the next round.[LNB]"We were beaten by an outstanding strike (by Downing) and it needed to be as Lee Grant was terrific tonight.[LNB]"The hero of the night was probably Brad Friedel. He certainly earned his corn tonight with some great saves at the end.[LNB]"All I've got is praise for my players and the performance is a real sign of what we can do."
