Houllier rues missed chances

Aston Villa boss Gerard Houllier bemoaned his side’s poor finishing as they lost 2-0 at Blackburn on Sunday.

Two goals from Morten Gamst Pedersen proved enough for the hosts to take all three points at Ewood Park as Villa missed a series of chances.

And Houllier believes it would have been a different game if his side had made the most of their goal scoring opportunities.

“We had about four or five good chances today. When you play away from home you know you’re not going to get many chances, we need to be more clinical on the pitch – we know that,” Houllier said.

And Houllier admits his side need to learn their lesson after the disappointing defeat.

He added: “I don’t think we gave an account of ourselves. I think we had a couple of chances in the first half. Away from home you need to take them or you’ll get punished.”

“We conceded a goal at the worst moment in the game, that means we were in a different position. We knew they would play deeper, more defensive, the second goal was just a mistake.”

“The difference was the free-kick from Pedersen and the corner up to the goal. We showed better initiative, better passing, had we scored we may have affected their confidence, but we didn’t.”

“The free-kick was avoidable, we need to learn the lesson. There was no danger, we knew they were very efficient from free-kicks, throw-ins and corners, we can’t blame anybody except ourselves.”