Aston Villa manager Unai Emery hailed his side’s mentality as they beat Middlesbrough 1-0 in their third-round FA Cup clash at the Riverside.
The Premier League high-flyers reached the fourth round thanks to Matty Cash’s deflected winner in the 87th minute.
Villa had chances in the first half from Jhon Duran and Leander Dendoncker before threatening in the first 15 minutes of the second half as John McGinn, Ezri Konsa and Alex Moreno all came close from a succession of corners.
Cash eventually sent them through to the next round from a short corner in the final stages and Emery praised the maturity in his team to push for the winner.
‘We played big passions, being mature, I think we are growing up our mentality in matches like that,’ Emery said.
‘We were speaking before the match about the FA Cup, a very historic cup competition, maybe the best cup competition in the world,’ Emery added.
‘We’re speaking about our players, how much they were successful in this competition – not a lot! Only Emiliano (Martinez) and Calum Chambers won with Arsenal.
‘A long time Aston Villa was successful in this competition with seven titles.
‘Of course we are here trying to do another step ahead in this club, trying to play facing different competition and trying to be contending to get something.’
Carabao Cup semi-finalists Middlesbrough missed out on another cup run, but still had their opportunities in the game as Alex Bangura created some good chances and Morgan Rogers tested Martinez.
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