Thrilling comeback sees Aston Villa progress in FA Youth Cup

Striker Mason Cotcher was the hero, netting a hat-trick including the winner five minutes into stoppage time to cap a thrilling turnaround at Bodymoor Heath on Tuesday night.

Villa, who last won the trophy in 2021, will now host Plymouth in the last-eight and Shan believes they can go all the way.

“We’ve said it from day dot to the boys that they get two hits (at the FA Youth Cup), first year scholar and second year scholar,” he said.

“This time last season the under-18s went out in the first round, so we needed to try and continue the cup run and go as deep as we can.

“Our mindset is to try and go all the way to the final and try to win it. It was a tough one to get through today, but there were positive signs and we’ll keep plugging away and keep building.”

Villa had looked to be heading out of the competition when, after Reuben Sheppard had opened the scoring, Tomos Gibbs doubled the advantage for the visitors five minutes into the second half.

But Cotcher started the fightback with a low drive into the bottom corner, levelled things up with five minutes to go thanks to a composed finish and then snatched victory for his side when he converted Brad Burrowes’ cross.

“It was an exciting game for many, not so much for me just because of the goals we conceded,” reflected Shan.

“We knew they were going to be a direct threat. We knew they were going to be set play dominant. We conceded both free-kicks from needless fouls and that was disappointing.

“The lads showed loads of character, loads of resilience and we just told them to stick to task, believe in the process.

“Mason had a lot of runs to try and break the lines. Again it was perseverance and the ability to want to be in the right place at the right time. He was clinical when he got his chances. All credit to him.”