James Milner praised Aston Villa's young stars in their 4-1 FA cup third-round defeat by Liverpool on Friday and revealed one of them told him 'it was their first game in two months'.
Villa were forced to name a young team full of Under 23s and Under 18 players after their first-team squad was forced into self-isolation after a coronavirus outbreak at the Midlands club.
The youthful Villa side gave Jurgen Klopp's Premier League champions a decent test - with 17-year-old striker Louie Barry scoring a first-half equaliser to make it 1-1 at the interval - and Liverpool midfielder Milner was full of praise for the young talent on show.