'Mental strength decides shortness of crisis'

On his team's response to recent setbacks...
"It was very important for us to show a great mental response. Your mental strength decides the shortness of your crisis. We had a big disappointment last Wednesday and it's all about how quickly you respond by not losing the game after. There was a big question mark tonight and we won the game."

On the performance...
"In the first half we played well footballistically and created many chances. We scored with the luckiest of chances we created. In the second half Villa made a real battle of it but we showed another aspect of our game that we usually don't show. Sometimes we make mistakes on set-pieces or stupid free-kicks but that did not happen tonight. We dropped physically in the second half. You could see that Villa have had a long rest and we had played many games."

On Abou Diaby's goal...
"He deserved it and we are happy for him. It was a bit lucky, but it is a goal. In the first half Jeremie Aliadiere had a great time but just couldn't finish the game off. I used Diaby wide tonight but he is more a central player. He is similar to Patrick Vieira yes. I have very high hopes for him and all of them. We finished in the middle of the park tonight with the oldest player just 22."

On the character they showed...
"It is not always obvious but I feel this team has it. They showed it in the Carling Cup when they refused to die when we were 2-0 down at Tottenham and when Liverpool brought it back to 1-1. But they showed a great response there and they have shown it again tonight."

On the rest of the Premiership season...
"The aim is get as high as we can. We are a bit far from Chelsea at the moment but we hope at least to stay here in third and maybe we can climb a position."

On bouncing back from those cup exits...
"Yes we were under a lot pressure after such a big disappointment. The way the team responded was fantastic. It was more about mental strength than football and this result is vital for the rest of the season."

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