Stephen Ireland pleased with Aston Villa progress
Aston Villa midfielder Stephen Ireland is pleased with the progress the club has made in their last few English Premier League games. He has even insisted that the Villans can improve even further.
Ireland, who joined the club over the summer from Manchester City, was at the heart of the Villa side that earned a creditable 0-0 draw at home with defending champions Chelsea on Saturday, 16 October.
The result puts Villa just three points off third place, with Arsenal, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur all on 14 points, separated only by goal difference.
The 24-year-old told the BBC, "At times we looked really good and we asked a lot of questions of Chelsea. We'll only get better the more that we play together, and hopefully after Christmas we can really kick on."
Marc Albrighton, who has shone for Villa since getting a first-team opportunity under caretaker manager Kevin MacDonald (before Gerard Houllier took over as boss), was ruled out of the game with an illness, and Ireland made his third league start for the
club after the player-plus-cash move that sent James Milner to City.
Came close to first goal
The midfielder enjoyed a good game and almost netted his first goal for his new club after being put through on goal by Stewart Downing, but could not hit the target.
"The ball just got caught under my feet. Usually my first touch would be two yards away from me so I can get my whereabouts. My head was down, I just tried to hit it across the keeper and unfortunately it didn't go in for me. I've just got to keep getting
those chances, keep making those runs and hopefully I'll start putting them away eventually."
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