Alex McLeish feels Emile Heskey could have helped earn a point for Aston Villa on Saturday.

The Midlands club fell to a 1-0 home defeat to Manchester United, meaning they have now failed to beat the Reds at Villa Park since the opening day of the 1995-96 season.

McLeish is now coming under increasing pressure from the Villa faithful, but he feels this could have been relieved had Heskey set up Darren Bent towards the end of the game.

"In the second half we were better than in the first half. When United scored their goal, it seemed to make us a bit nervous," he said. "The fans did not like the first-half performance.

“I was not keen on it myself but we were a lot better in the second half. Emile Heskey had a good chance at the back post and could have played Darren Bent in instead of trying for a wonder goal."

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