“Jed [Steer] pulled off two or three very good saves and I’m delighted for him, because he’s worked really hard to get back. It was wet and windy, and the conditions made it a real leveller”, explained Bruce.
Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce believes their Carabao Cup test at League Two Colchester will be valuable experience after they progressed to the second round with a 2-1 win. We know they are a huge team, Villa, and they are going to bring a lot of fans and a lot of attention to the game.
Villa doubled their lead when Kent diverted Albert Adomah’s cross into his own net but Kent made amends six minutes before half-time when he guided Kyle Reid’s effort past Steer. But centre-half Terry was still at the Community Stadium to watch the match.
Meanwhile, U’s manager John McGreal was happy with his side’s display against illustrious opponents.
“I made a calculated gamble playing people who hadn’t played for a long time and then of course I made up (the squad) with 18 or 19-year-olds, which they’ll remember, it’s good for them”.
But Colchester quickly won a penalty when Sammie Szmodics was fouled by Chris Samba, only for Steer to deny Mikael Mandron.
“They’re the future of the club, because the situation we find ourselves in at the moment we’re not in the position to spend millions of pounds (on players)”, Bruce said.
“The lads showed a good reaction to going 2-0 down”. We came in at half-time thinking we can nick a draw and take it into extra-time.
With regards Tom Eastman’s injury from Saturday’s 3-1 defeat at Accrington, McGreal said: “Tom has an ankle injury and also took a heavy knock to the leg. He was no where near for this match, but we will assess him again tomorrow”.