Martin O’Neill was happy to leave the Britannia Stadium with a point on Saturday.

Whilst some would consider this as two points dropped in Aston Villa’s fight for a fourth-placed finish, O’Neill feels a goalless draw at Stoke City is a point gained.

"I thought we defended brilliantly. You know what to expect when you play Stoke, they make it difficult for you,” he said. "When (the long throw-in) comes in you have to be able to deal with it.

“And we coped admirably with it. I thought we put ourselves on the line and we had some very brave players as well as some excellent players."

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