Aston Villa's new manager Gerard Houllier was full of praise for his striker Emile Heskey after he netted the equalising goal against Blackburn to set his side on their way to turning around the score and progressing into the next round.

Heskey came off the bench just before the hour mark to score the equaliser and then helped Ashley Young to grab a brace.

Houllier said after the game: "I know what Emile can do. He showed a few things in training to indicate he was in good form.

"He was decisive. With Emile it's a matter of confidence. It's the same with all strikers, but probably more so with him.

"Emile came on and was showing freshness, scored one goal and played a part in the other two.

"I was not disappointed by the effort and application in the first half but there was no flow to our game, but I changed the system in the second half and I thought it suited the players more.

"I did not feel down at half-time. I have seen the team a bit in training and I thought it was a matter of getting ourselves into the game."