'Disappointed' - Steve Bruce shares verdict after Blackpool penalty shootout defeat to Aston Villa
The 63-year-old had an honest say on a night in which Aston Villa came out on top against Blackpool after 38 penalties.
Steve Bruce has admitted he is disappointed by Blackpool’s penalty shootout defeat to Aston Villa in the EFL Trophy.
The Seasiders lost 18-17 on spot kicks with Jordan Gabriel the unfortunate player who missed his effort from 12 yards. Blackpool took the lead through Elliot Embleton but Jamaldeen Jimoh-Aloba equalised, and almost nearly won the game in regulation time.
Villa’s involvement in the competition is now over for another year, with their only route to Wembley Stadium now being through the League One play-offs. As for Villa, they will host Bradford City in the next round in January.
“My thoughts are we didn’t do enough to win the game,” Bruce said to the official club website.
“We’ve been caught, given a bad goal away. It’s elementary mistakes that are our Achilles heel.
“It’s a long ball down the middle and with arguably their first shot on target, they’ve equalised.
“I’m disappointed, but we didn’t play well enough.”
A completely different 11 was named from the side that beat Reading 3-0 at the weekend. Jordan Rhodes captained the side which also had experience from the likes of Oliver Norburn, Hayden Coulson, and goalscorer Elliot Embleton.
Ashley Fletcher an Albie Morgan who both scored against the Royals at the weekend came on as did Dom Ballard. The 63-year-old believed he named a side capable enough of beating the Premier League 2 outfit.
He added: “We know it’s going to go to penalties but we haven’t done enough simply to win the game.
“I’ve picked a strong enough team to go and make sure that we go through to the next round. Unfortunately, we haven’t managed to do it.”