O'Neill laments set-piece defending

Villa manager Martin O'Neill admitted his side's defending of set-pieces was "poor" after twice going behind to Tim Cahill headers in the home draw with Everton.

The Toffees midfielder put the visitors ahead midway through the first-half, after wriggling free from Richard Dunne to head home.

Cahill repeated the feat just two minutes after Gabby Agbonlahor had equalised, once again punishing some slack marking, before Everton defender Phil Jagielka put through his own net in stoppage time to hand Villa a point.

And O'Neill, whose side had the best defence in the Premier League only a matter of weeks ago, conceded it just wasn't good enough.

He said: "Cahill is very good at it. He's given Richard a bit of a push for the first goal but he's very good, he steps off and comes in.

"We defended those poorly, I must admit. It's not usually like us but we've conceded a couple of free-kicks recently, Wolves was quite similar.

"We need to do better."

The Villa boss felt his team were unfortunate to have the free-kick from which Cahill got his opener awarded against them, following what looked a fair challenged by Stephen Warnock on Leon Osman.

But the manager insisted it not rankle like Howard Webb's failure to award Villa a penalty in last Saturday's FA Cup semi-final defeat to Chelsea, when John Obi Mikel toppled Gabby Agbonlahor.

O'Neill said: "The linesman has given the foul. I thought Warnock had gone in to get the ball but it's a decision that has gone against us.

"It was disappointing because of the outcome when we find ourselves unable to defend the free-kick properly, but it wouldn't rank in comparison to the decisions we've had at Wembley."

Villa gleaned a point in the end, but their top-four hopes now look virtually dead with Manchester City seven points clear in fourth with just five to play.

It was a poor result for Everton too, with the Toffees needing a win to boost their Europa League hopes.

O'Neill said: "It was probably a great spectacle, it was enthralling from start to finish as a lot of our Everton games seem to be. We certainly deserved the equaliser and maybe should have been well in front by half-time.

"Maybe a point doesn't suit either side at the end of the day in terms of our aspirations, or for Everton's European hopes, and for ourselves maybe something higher but it was a great game.

The Villa manager was also delighted with the energy levels of his team considering their cup exertions last weekend.

He said: "It was tough. I had a chance to watch the game on Tuesday night between Chelsea and Bolton and I thought Chelsea, despite winning the game, were a wee bit sluggish, maybe from their exertions against us on Saturday.

"So, from our viewpoint, I thought we were terrific. I thought we kept going and I thought the fitness levels were incredible seeing as it was the same players.

"I thought our resilience was absolutely top class."

Toffees boss David Moyes felt Villa striker John Carew was offside, immediately before Jagielka turned Ashley Young's cross past his own goalkeeper Tim Howard.

He said: "When Young crosses the ball, Carew is just offside but it would have been a hard one for the referee to spot.

"I thought it was hard on our goalkeeper, because he made a couple of great first-half saves.

"Tim is disappointed he didn't keep out the second goal, but his overall performance was magnificent."

But Moyes refused to write off his side's Europa League hopes, even though they still trail Villa by four points and have played a game more.

He added: "We will keep going. We will keep trying. Europe is important and we will keep fighting to try and get in there."