Aston Villa FC

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Villa errors leave MacDonald frustrated

27 Aug 2010 - 07:19:03

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Caretaker boss Kevin MacDonald blamed "silly" goals for Aston Villa's Europa League exit at the hands of Rapid Vienna.

Villa lost 3-2 on the night and 4-3 on aggregate to go out of the tournament at the qualifying stage at the hands of the same opposition for the second successive year.

The Midlands club twice led through Gabriel Agbonlahor and Emile Heskey, but the match turned on a penalty miss by captain Stiliyan Petrov.

"I am very disappointed. We were in total control at 1-0 and gave away a silly equaliser," said MacDonald.

"We also missed a penalty and gave away a silly third goal. We made three silly mistakes and we are out of the tournament.

"You can't legislate for individual mistakes from international players.

"It is a big blow for Aston Villa to go out of Europe again. A lot of the lads were disappointed to go out last season.

"It is a major blow for them. They are professional footballers and proud of what they do."

Meanwhile, MacDonald refused to discuss his own position following suggestions that an early European exit on the back of Sunday's 6-0 thrashing by Newcastle United had harmed his chances of getting the job on a full-time basis.

He took interim charge of first-team affairs following the departure of Martin O'Neill on the eve of the new season.

"My own position is not uppermost in my thoughts 10 minutes after a game," he added.

"It is not about me but how the players and the football club react on Sunday.

"I have never been told I was first choice and expect nothing to change until after the game on Sunday."