Matty Cash claims it's too early to judge Aston Villa as possible title contenders
Aston Villa right-back Matty Cash
Aston Villa right-back Matty Cash(Image: SmartFrame/Pro Sports Images)
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Matty Cash admits Aston Villa’s late win over Arsenal was one of his best experiences at B6, but insists it’s too early to talk about a possible title bid.
The 28-year-old opened the scoring against Mikel Arteta’s side in the first half, but Leandro Trossard came off the bench to equalise shortly after the interval.
Emi Buendía then secured all three points for Villa at the very death, scoring with the last kick of the game in front of the Holte End.
“Unbelievable. One of the best [moments]. Unbelievable,” Cash said after the victory. “Obviously, I'd come off and there were four minutes left, but I was more nervous than watching the game, to be honest.
“Then, when that went in at the end, wow. I went absolutely mental. I think I jumped on the gaffer at one point. First time I've done that!
“It felt a little bit surreal, to be honest. It was such a good moment. I think we stayed in the game well. We defended the box well. Had moments ourselves as well to maybe win the game before. Unbelievable, and such a great win.”
Villa came into the match on the back of a 4-3 win over Brighton at the Amex last Wednesday, having come from behind after Brighton scored twice in the opening 30 minutes.
“We didn't get back until, what, two, three in the morning, and then obviously you're in the hotel and it all comes quick and fast,” Cash explained. “You’ve just got to try and prepare the best you can, do a lot of recovery.
“They're [Arsenal] in great form as well, obviously, but we are as well. So we went into the game wanting to win the game. The manager made it clear before the game that we're here to win.
“Obviously, at Villa Park we've got our fans with us. Such a fortress here. So that was the message: to win the game.
“It was a massive test. I think they're probably one of the best teams in Europe. You're looking at the Champions League, they're flying in the Premier League. They're probably favourites to win it.
“So it was definitely a big challenge for us to see where we were at. We were probably saying the same thing when we played against Man City as well and managed to beat them. But it’s still early days. I think they're a fantastic team. They're going to be up there all season. I think we've shown in recent times that we can sort of go toe-to-toe with the top teams.
“It's just about staying resilient, defending. You have to defend the box really well because they're such a good team. They can hurt you at any point.”
Asked about the possibility of challenging for the title, Cash said: “It's hard to say. When you look where we are at the minute, obviously we're three points behind Arsenal. We're in a fantastic position, but we're not even at Christmas yet. So I think we've got to have a bit of Christmas dinner first before we think about that!
“It's obviously great to be in a position, but we've got loads of football left. So, as I said, talking here and now, it's great to be second. We want to keep being consistent and demanding and hopefully we can have a good run.”
“I think the manager said it the other day, every game we're learning new experiences and we're getting better from it,” Cash continued. “I think obviously when we first got into Europe, it's obviously new to some players.
“Then you have a year in the Conference League and you have experiences there. Then you go into the Champions League and it's like, wow, it's new to some players again.
“But every week we're gaining different experiences, you know? And I think that will better us as a team 100%. Obviously, this year we've had a lot of experience in Europe in the last few years.
“Hopefully, we can just be up there a lot in the table, up to fifth, sixth, seventh. And obviously now we're sitting second, so hopefully we can just keep this in mind.”
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