Aston Villa full-back Alan Hutton has spoken to the media after his side's 4-0 defeat to Arsenal in Saturday's FA Cup final, praising the opposition and insisting that there is still a lot for Villa fans to be positive about.
A far superior Arsenal side demolished Villa 4-0 at the home of football, with the Midlands team never looking in the game after Theo Walcott scored the opener. However, Hutton insists that there is much to be positive about, despite the defeat.
“Just to get to the FA Cup final was a great achievement on its own," said the Scotsman. “Everyone in our dressing room is trying to be positive although, of course, we’re disappointed.
“But there’s no point being too down about it because there’s definitely been progress made in the last few months and now we can look forward to next year.
“The most important thing was that we stayed in the top flight - that was always the main aim. The manager will bring in new players and that should make us stronger.”
Hutton acknowledged that Villa could certainly have been awarded two penalties late on, but struggled to explain why they were so far behind in the game.
“It was a real blow to concede just before half-time," he continued. "We had tried to keep them out as long as possible but couldn’t make it to the break.
“And it was a double whammy when they scored that second so soon after the interval.
"We had talked about trying to keep them quiet until the hour mark. It was unfortunate.
“You need things to go your way in big games like this, there were one or two decisions that might have gone for us on another day but it wasn’t to be."