Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill was delighted with James Milner's performance in yesterday's 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough.

He told AVTV: "I thought James did brilliantly overall.

"He was having a tough time early on obviously but he was just adjusting to the position. It is the first time he has played right-back properly from the start.

"We went with an attacking side because we really felt we had to win the game. We put as many attacking players in there as we could.

"Now, it doesn't always work - with some players having to play out of position - but it hasn't affected the Wayne Rooney's of this world - the top players - so I thought we would take a leaf out of their book."