The game was only 32 second old when Josh McEachran thumped the ball into the roof of the net
from two yards out. Shay Given stretched out a desperate arm, but wasn't able to prevent Chelsea
taking the lead inside the first minute. Not the ideal start to the Asia Cup final on a pitch that
would provide almost as big a challenge as the oppressive heat.
It's the final of the Asia Trophy and we're taking on Chelsea for a chance to grab some
pre-season silverware in Hong Kong. Like all pre-season games, it would be a mistake to read to
much into performances, and the result doesn't really matter, but doing well in this one wouldn't
hurt confidence.
Yes, it's just pre-season. Yes, it's still early days, there's much to be done. Nevertheless,
the positive signs continue. The green shoots of recovery are quite possibly poking their heads
through the soil.
Darren Bent (who else?) got the only goal of the game in typically oppressive conditions in Hong
Kong, but there were encouraging performances all around the pitch.
It's not just the team who can test things during pre-season, it's also a good opportunity to
try a few new tricks here on the blog. Today's live blog is just that; a test. The live blogs I've
done in the past were hosted by an external company the same one the official site uses but I
wanted to bring it in-house as it were.
It's not just the team who can test things during pre-season, it's also a good opportunity to
try a few new tricks here on the blog. Today's live blog is just that; a test. The live blogs I've
done in the past were hosted by an external company the same one the official site uses but I
wanted to bring it in-house as it were.
Aston Villa are taking 24 players to Hong Kong to compete in the Barclays Asia Trophy and the
travelling party are en route right now. As the strength and depth of the squad is a hot topic at
the moment, I thought it might be interesting to compare this pre-season tournament squad with the
squads from the last couple of seasons.
The somewhat light pre-season fixture list gets underway for us tomorrow with a familiar trip to
the Bescot. It's a game that Shay Given expects to play in and should provide the first clues about
Alex McLeish's thinking in terms of tactics and style of play.
It's highly unlikely that we'll have recruited a new left winger by then, so perhaps we'll see
how innovative McLeish is too.
