Sørensen seeing plenty of positives despite United defeat

Brian Sørensen was left frustrated after Aston Villa fell to a slim 1-0 defeat to Manchester United on Sunday, though he says that there are "plenty of positives" to take forward.

The home side had plenty of opportunities to take the lead in a close match up at Villa Park, before substitute Julia Zigiotti converted a header to secure the spoils for the visitors.

With further openings spurned in the closing stages, Villa were unable to prevent a first defeat in eight games across all competitions.

Speaking to VillaTV post match Sørensen said: "We didn't start the game very well. We were a bit one or two steps after them.

"We talked at half-time, got the pressure fixed a little bit better, and then I thought we did really well. I think they actually scored against the momentum, which is really frustrating of course.

"We put a lot of energy into the game to make sure that we turned it around, and then we didn't get anything out of it.

"That's football sometimes, but we keep working. (There's) a lot of positives to still take."

Though it was a first defeat since September for Villa, one bright moment that emerged from the meeting was the return of midfielder Jill Baijings after 407 days out recovering from an ACL injury.

"She's been looking really good in training. She's very good holding the ball up, playing good passes, and physically she's very good", Sorensen added. 

"I think she came in and did really well, actually changed a little bit of the momentum of the game to our side. (It was) just unfortunate we didn't take anything out of it."

There's little time to dwell on the loss in B6 on Sunday, with Liverpool to come in the Players Cup on Wednesday, before the Villans return to Villa Park for another Second City debry against rivals Birmingham City.

Sorensen continued, "We need to secure our spot in the League Cup after Christmas, we can do that against Liverpool, so that's the first focus. Then of course second we will be back here at Villa Park in a derby and we're all excited. 

"When you have a loss you always want to play (again) fast. I want to replay this game again tomorrow, but it's not possible.

"We need to focus on the Liverpool game first, get the points we need and then we're ready for the derby."

Watch Sørensen's full post-match interview with VillaTV below...