Sørensen pleased as Villa stay unbeaten in Cup

Brian Sørensen was pleased to see his Aston Villa side remain unbeaten in the Players Cup after drawing against rivals Birmingham City on Wednesday.

They took the lead through substitute Mathilde Harviken midway through the second half, but were denied all three points when Martha Harris equalised deep into stoppage time.

Nevertheless the squad rallied to claim a bonus point, with Emily Ramsey making two big saves in a 6-5 penalty shootout victory, which Sørensen believes will be a "good learning experience" to take forwards.

Speaking to VillaTV post match at Keys Park, Sørensen said: "Overall, I was happy with a lot of things. It's an entertaining game, back and forth.

"We were in large part of the game in good control. Of course, at the end, they throw everything to try to come back and they got back. 

"We had a penalty shootout, which was fun. Nice to see we won that also. So overall, I'm pleased.

"I think we got the balance right in terms of minutes, for Sunday also, with this programme we're (going) through. 

"Missy (Bo Kearns), her first start, it's been a long time out. Rofiat (Imuran) her first start too, and some of the younger players getting 90 minutes. So overall, good."

Having made a double change at the break Birmingham took the early second half control, though Villa were able to snatch the lead courtesy of one of their own substitute, Mathilde Harviken.

Sørensen added, "There was a wave of corners against us at some point, but we defended that really well. The staff do really good to make sure set-pieces are strong.

"And then, of course, the attacking, we've been looking sharp on that. And yeah good to see Mati get a goal."

In a cruel late twist Harris levelled in additional time to deny Villa a fourth win from four League Phase games, though the side rallied to claim the bonus point on spot kicks.

"That's one of those things", said Sørensen. "They throw everything in the box and they get the foot on it. That's football sometimes. 

"Can we do better? Yeah, we can, and we will assess that and make sure if we get into a situation like that (again), we are better.

"It's a good learning experience. Otherwise, I enjoyed the penalty shoot-out. That was class, very well-taken penalties for all of them."

Sørensen finished by praising the fans for their fantastic support at Keys Park, urging them turn out again in a few weeks time when we host the next Second City derby in the Women's Super League at Villa Park.

"There was an incredible atmosphere here on a Wednesday night and a late kick-off, so good to see that the fans were coming and hopefully they got something for their money. Hopefully we can get as many fans as possible (next time) at Villa Park. 

"It's going to be tough the next two games with Arsenal away and Manchester United at home, but we are in a better place than we were some weeks back. 

"We'll do our very best to make sure we keep winning and we keep getting points. I'm looking forward to it. I think we can go and do something at Emirates."

Watch Sørensen's full post match chat with VillaTV below...