Michael O’Neill delighted as Stoke stun Aston Villa

Sam Vokes sent the Potters through to the quarter-finals as Villa’s second-string suffered a 1-0 fourth-round defeat.

Henri Lansbury and Keinan Davis missed Villa’s best chances as last season’s beaten finalists failed to find a way past their Sky Bet Championship visitors.

“It was a really good performance, I’m delighted. We handled the game really well,” said O’Neill.

“It gives us a bit of confidence going into Sunday’s game (against Birmingham)

“It’s a nice situation to be in, we haven’t got a lot to lose but they managed it really well.

“It’s a good test for us to come to places like Villa and Wolves and keep clean sheets.

“The cup has been a very worthwhile competition for us because we have a big squad and we can utilise it.

“We had more of the play than we had against Wolves. We got ourselves ahead, the shape of the team was good and we handled it well.”

Stoke have kept six clean sheets in their opening seven games – including their 1-0 Carabao Cup win at Wolves – but benefited from poor Villa finishing.

Lansbury blew a golden chance to level four minutes after Vokes’ winner when he headed wide from five yards.

Just before the break Davis stabbed wide at the far post as Villa continued to stumble.

They improved after the break but Stoke could have doubled their lead only for Vokes to plant a free header wide.

Adam Davies saved from Anwar El Ghazi and Ollie Watkins and the Potters survived late pressure to book their spot in the last eight.

“It’s a massive missed opportunity and I said that to the players. I don’t often get into them at half-time but I did today because we were that poor in the first half,” said Villa boss Dean Smith.

“With the tempo we played at it was a lacklustre first half and an awful performance.

“The first-half performance was way below the standards.

“There weren’t too many surprises from Stoke, the biggest surprise was how slow we were on the ball.”

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