Tyrone Mings has criticized Aston Villa's performance as “not good enough” as they suffered a disappointing 1-0 defeat to Monaco.
The Villans missed out on the chance to secure themselves a place in the Champions League knockout stages after suffering only the second defeat of their season through Wilfried Sengo's early header.
Villa lacked inspiration as they struggled to get themselves into the game after that early setback and that proved not enough as they lost ground to their top eight rivals.
Speaking to TNT Sports, defender Mings said: “There are no excuses. I sent a bad ball into the corner, I didn't defend the corner well. We couldn't get back into the game and we couldn't take the chances we had. Those are the beautiful margins of football.
“We weren't good enough.
“We will definitely take the positives that came from the game but we have to be better. We have to try to stay balanced and be the same if we win when we lose. We need a consistent mood and attitude.
“It wasn't a good night, nobody here feels good about that – the fans have come a long way. We'll go again.”
“In the big moments we came out on the wrong side of them.”
“Football is a very simple game, and we were not good enough.”
An honest assessment of Aston Villa's performance in Monaco from Tyrone Mings.
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Manager Unai Emery was more positive about his side's performance but admitted they had failed to match their previous performances in the competition, which include victories over Young Boys, Bayern Munich, Bologna and RB Leipzig.
The Spanish coach said: “I think we played 70 minutes as I want. The opponent, of course, has a game plan as well. They were good in transition.
“We created three or four good chances to score. Of course, if we want to be at this level, we have to take advantage of the opportunities we had. But despite that, I was somewhat positive.”
Emery made the rare move of bringing on John Doran alongside fellow striker Ollie Watkins in the second half as Villa chased the game and admitted they lost their footing in the game from that moment on.
He added: “In the last 20 to 25 minutes we were playing with attackers and we did not pose a threat like the first 70 minutes.
“In the last 20 minutes we played with two attackers and with two attackers we were not as organized in position as I would like.
“We have good strikers. Playing with two strikers is my challenge. They are both very good players but today it did not work well.
“I made a mistake when I decided to play with two strikers. Until that moment we more or less controlled the match.”
One positive of the evening in Monte Carlo was the display of Emiliano Buendia, who was undoubtedly Villa's best source of attacking threat after creating good chances for Watkins, Leon Bailey and Morgan Rogers.
He added about the Argentine, who returned from a long injury this season: “I was especially happy with Emi Buendia today. He has the option to leave but we need him. We played great thanks to his qualities, his mentality and his commitment to this team.
