Jimmy Shan praised the character and resilience of Aston Villa after they emerged victorious from an epic FA Youth Cup semi-final against Manchester United on Monday night.
A 1-1 draw in 90 minutes was followed by a goalless extra-time period, meaning their hopes of a place in the final would be decided on penalties.
Goalkeeper Sam Proctor saved two spot kicks and Villa scored all three of theirs as the Young Lions triumphed 3-1 in the shootout, keeping the club’s hopes of a fifth triumph in the competition alive.
When asked how proud he is of the team, Shan replied: “Massively. The boys showed loads of character and resilience.
“It was a tough game. Manchester United are a very tough team, they’ve got some good players and a good style of football. We played a bit deeper at times and that takes a lot of concentration, maybe not all the time physically but mentally it’s very draining.
“The lads dug deep and you could see the amount of times they went down with cramp. A big credit to them, I think they performed at their maximum tonight.”
He added: “In preparation for every round religiously we’ve practiced penalties. There have been times as a coach when I’ve been running a bit over my session and thought about if we cut that time.
“Pete Saunders has driven that and said, ‘Come on, Jim, we need to practice.’ It’s not just been practicing for this moment, we’ve been practicing for every round. The lads have had lots of rehearsal, we’ve tried to recreate pressure scenarios and I said that to them before the penalty shootout.
“The process was there and they just had to trust the process. Sam is a big game player, he’s a big character and there were some mind games in there as well. He was outstanding.”
There was a big crowd inside Villa Park to cheer the hosts on to a first final since 2021, when the Under-18s overcame Liverpool in B6 to win the famous trophy.
Shan’s team will now aim to emulate that team when they face either Watford or Manchester City in the final.
“Everyone in there, players and staff alike, are proud and buzzing with the result,” he said.
“The performance was a little bit indifferent, probably not ideal for how we want to perform as an Academy and Under-18 team, but you have to win in a variety of ways.
“They certainly showed that grit and desire to compete, put bodies on the line and to be resilient. Absolutely delighted and now it’s on to the next.”
