Villa duo hail backroom 'heroes'
Mark Delaney and Aaron Hughes have praised Aston Villa’s “unsung heroes” in coaches Gordon Cowans, Kevin MacDonald and Tony McAndrew for producing a conveyor belt of young talent.
Villa manager David O’Leary has constantly warned of the dangers of having one of the smallest squads in the Premiership at his disposal.
But his concerns have been eased by the efforts of Cowans and company, who have helped produce a stream of players who have broken into the first-team squad.
Six of the starting line-up against Newcastle last weekend – Jlloyd Samuel, Craig Gardner, Peter Whittingham, Gareth Barry, Luke Moore and Lee Hendrie – had come through the youth ranks.
In addition, midfielder Steven Davis, currently suffering with a groin injury, and central defender Liam Ridgewell are also members of the senior set-up.
Delaney said: “Gordon, Tony, and Kevin don’t get many headlines but a lot of lads are coming through and a lot of them have played in the first team.
“That shows what work they are doing behind the scenes. You can’t give them enough credit. They just keep doing the business and the fans can see the work they are doing with the players that are coming through.
“We need to do it. We are a club who is not going to go out and buy a hell of a lot of players. We need to produce home-grown lads and fortunately we’ve got coaches behind the scenes who are doing it for us.”
Hughes echoed Delaney’s sentiments and said: “If you look at the Villa side against Newcastle, six of the team which started came through the ranks and there were a few that didn’t play who have done the same like Davis and Ridgewell.
“It is a great the youth system here can bring players of that quality through. There are almost too many to list. The longer they can keep doing that, then it means the club can spend a little bit more on players they want to bring in.
“It is a good youth set-up here. When I first came down I was impressed with it. The longer they can continue bringing players through, then the better it is for the team.
“Gordon, Kevin, Tony do a great job. They are good coaches and know what they are talking about.
"They must do if you look at the players that have come through already.”
Davis is battling to be fit for the FA Cup fifth-round clash with Manchester City on Sunday after missing the game against the Magpies.
