Aston Villa manager Remi Garde was pleased by his side's display in the 0-0 draw with Manchester City in his first game in charge of the club and said that he was happy with the result.
Villa held the league leaders to a goalless draw at Villa Park on Sunday in Garde's first match as a manager in England since taking over at the club last Monday.
Although the point means that the Birmingham side stay bottom of the Premier League table it did halt a run of seven consecutive defeats in the league, and Garde admitted that he was pleased by what he saw from his new players.
"It was a nice experience and a fantastic atmosphere," he told BBC Sport. "It was a tough game. I can be very happy with my team today, I saw smiles on their faces.
"When you play with sadness it does not help you. I tried in the three training sessions we had to deliver my message. Nobody expected that we were going to score two or three goals. The difference between the two teams before was huge. Making sure we were well organised defensively was my priority.
"Some of the players who did not start today had problems during the week. Nobody will play because he is French or Spanish or British. I saw in training how good or bad they were."
Garde will have a fortnight to further assess his new squad before Villa are in action again, as they next face a trip to Everton after the international break.
Tom Nightingale
