McLeish happy to celebrate away day

Aston Villa boss Alex McLeish was thrilled as his side secured their first away win of the season with a 2-1 victory over struggling Bolton.

Two goals in the first half were enough to grab the spoils at the Reebok Stadium, with Marc Albrighton and Stilian Petrov getting on the scoresheet.

A goal from Ivan Klasnic after the break gave the hosts an ounce of hope, but they could not find an equaliser, much to McLeish’s delight.

“I’m delighted to get the first away win of the season, it’s been a long time coming,” the Scot said.

“First half I thought we were amazing, fantastic. Marc Albrighton getting his goal, great.”

“Bolton were always in it, especially when they got the quick goal in the second half. We possibly switched off a little bit.”

McLeish paid tribute to winger Charles N’Zogbia, who had been under fire for some sub-par performances of late.

“He was great,” McLeish said. “We’re looking for him to be a great Aston Villa player and that should be his goal.”

“It’s not about the finer things in life; the cars or the houses. It’s about the prestige, it’s about being a top player and it’s about playing well at a top club. Charles gave us a performance that we are used to seeing over the years.”

Bolton boss Owen Coyle, meanwhile, felt his players deserved better.

“I can always accept that someone’s better than you because they’ve earned the right, but that wasn’t the case today. As good as the Aston Villa players were, the two goals we’ve conceded were self-inflicted,” Coyle said.

“There’s no getting away from the result first and foremost. Disappointed is an understatement of how we feel because we’re obviously at home and looking to win the game and start moving up the league.”

“I felt the game started quite even, even though truth be told we looked quite nervous.”

“The first goal was always going to be paramount in the game and there’s four or five individual mistakes within the goal, that’s been self-inflicted.”