'Aston Villa will be back' says down but defiant Alan Hutton

Defiant Aston Villa full-back Alan Hutton put on a brave face after finishing a poor second to Arsenal in an extremely one-sided FA Cup Final.

Villa were the obvious underdogs having just avoided relegation from the Premier League but suffered a 4-0 Wembley walloping and barely put a shot on target.

But Hutton insisted: “The most important thing was that we stayed in the top flight – that was always the main aim. 

“Just to get to the FA Cup Final was a great achievement on its own.

"Everyone in our dressing room is trying to be positive although, of course, we’re disappointed.

'‘But there’s no point being too down about it because there’s definitely been progress made in the last few months and now we can look forward to next year.

"I am up for it, that’s for sure. The manager will bring in new players and that should make us stronger."

Shay Given had to make a series of saves for Aston Villa

Hutton and co kept rampant Arsenal at bay until Theo Walcott broke through in the 40th minute.

Then the Gunners ran amok through Alexis Sanchez's 25-yard wonder-shot five minutes after half-time before Per Mertesacker and sub Olivier Giroud put the seven-times FA Cup winners to the sword.

Hutton added: "It was a real blow to concede just before half-time. We had tried to keep them out as long as possible but couldn’t make it to the break.

"And it was a double whammy when they scored that second so soon after the interval. We had talked about trying to keep them quiet until the hour-mark. It was unfortunate.

“You need things to go your way in big games like this. There were one or two decisions that might have gone for us on another day but it wasn’t to be."