Gerard Houllier: Even my best Villa team couldn't beat City

By Janine Self for The Mail on Sunday Updated: 20:04 EST, 4 March 2011

Gerard Houllier came close to scoring an embarrassing own goal by admitting he thought even his best team could not have won at Manchester City - and then trying to withdraw the remark.

Aston Villa's manager risked another fallout with the club's supporters as he tried to justify his eight changes in the FA Cup defeat at Eastlands.

He told reporters who asked about the changes: 'I'm sorry but Man City, at the moment, are above us.'

Asked whether he thought Villa's strongest team could have won, he replied: 'No, honestly no. I knew they would put their best side out and their squad is better than ours.'

Despite justifying his honesty by saying I'm not doing PR,' he returned to the media room at Villa's training ground an hour later and tried to withdraw his remarks by issuing an apology to fans.

He said: 'I'm sorry. I should have warned the fans before but I made changes in the games against Sheffield United and Blackburn and felt I had to do it again. It was not as if I was playing the youth team.'

Houllier, who believes Villa are still in a relegation battle, faces a trip to Bolton today. 'We have 10 games and we know what it takes,' he said. 'The team will be up and fresh for it.'