Aston Villa boss Gerard Houllier was pleased with Ciaran Clark after their derby stalemate with Birmingham City.
Houllier praised Clark for his display in the unfamiliar defensive midfield role, especially given the tension of the derby occasion.
He told Villa's website: "I chose Ciaran because the midfield against Burnley had two players - Reo-Coker and Sidwell. Those two players played practically two hours and I just wanted to ease their task a bit and have a better base in terms of passing.
"Ciaran did well. He adapted to the situation well.
"To put him there for the first time in a derby, all credit to him. He did very well as did Barry Bannan when he came on."
