O'Neill shrugs off crowd exchange

17 January 2010 17:25
O'Neill and Villa's goalkeeping coach Seamus McDonagh appeared to have words with several spectators as a frustrating 0-0 Premier League draw with West Ham reached its climax.[LNB]The game ended with around half a dozen stewards in position alongside and at the back of the home dugout but O'Neill was adamant what occurred was "not a big issue".[LNB]The former Celtic boss tried to laugh off the incident and said: "It was my brother. I told him not to say anything. He was giving me a bit of advice. I shall see him when I get home tonight.[LNB]"I didn't know about Seamus and I'm not so sure this is really a big issue. It does not concern me.[LNB]"The issue today was we were unable to score a goal but it was a big effort by my players considering we played in the Carling Cup semi-final only on Thursday.[LNB]"It is disappointing the win didn't materialise and when you drop points at home it can be considered a missed opportunity.[LNB]"But I think this result and other ones this weekend involving teams near us in the table highlight how difficult this league is."[LNB]O'Neill believes the fair play of his skipper Stiliyan Petrov prevented West Ham midfielder Radoslav Kovac from being sent off in the second half for a second bookable offence.[LNB]O'Neill said: "I think Stiliyan kept Kovac on the pitch by getting up so quickly because it did look a bookable offence.[LNB]"If he had stayed down, the player would have been sent off so well done to Stiliyan.[LNB]"Hopefully this idea we have a couple of divers in our team like Gabriel Agbonlahor and Ashley Young gets washed away with the rest of the nonsense."[LNB]West Ham manager Gianfranco Zola revealed his pride at his team's performance in claiming a point which lifts them out of the bottom three.[LNB]A string of fine saves from England keeper Robert Green helped to keep Villa at bay.[LNB]Zola said: "It is a good point for us. They had good chances but we did as well. The way we played in the second half deserved a point and I'm proud of my team's performance.[LNB]"We were up against a team who are in good form and we have important players missing.[LNB]"It is massive to be out of the bottom three and this result here will also give the players a big boost of confidence."[LNB]Kovac was substituted soon after his challenge on Petrov by Zola to avoid being red-carded after having already picked up a first-half booking.[LNB]Zola said: "The referee told our captain (Matthew Upson) the next tackle was going to be a sending-off so we took no chances.[LNB]"I thought the first booking in any case was harsh because it wasn't a foul but I also have to congratulate Petrov because he is a fair person and a fair player."[LNB][LNB]

Source: Team_Talk