Interim Aston Villa boss Kevin MacDonald believes there were a number of positives to come from his side's 2-1 defeat to Southampton in the Capital One Cup.

Villa are languishing in last place in the Premier League but MacDonald saw some promising signs his side's performance against the Saints.

MacDonald told Sky Sports: "We were quite happy, especially with the first half, We controlled the game up to a point and snuffed out their forward players."

"We created two or three half chances, and their goalkeeper probably had to make more saves than Brad [Guzan] had to do, but if you don't convert your chances against good sides [you suffer]."

"In the second half it was a bit more even and then they took a 2-0 lead. We managed to get a consolation goal but there are more positives than negatives."