Saturday 27 February 2016 19:05, UK
Aston Villa boss Remi Garde admitted defeat to Stoke was 'difficult' to take as they edged ever closer to relegation from the Premier League.
Villa's survival mission looks ever more impossible as they remain seven points adrift of the pack after a Marko Arnautovic double helped City to a 2-1 victory at the Britannia Stadium.
Their 17th league defeat in 27 matches this season was a familiar tale, with defensive deficiencies and attacking ineptitude paving the way for the loss
Although Garde felt his side recovered from their 6-0 thrashing against Liverpool in their previous match, he admitted their soft centre eventually cost them.
"It was a very difficult defeat [to take]," the Frenchman told Sky Sports.
"I think we played quite well in the first half, we defended well and created chances, but we know that it is difficult for us to create chances at the moment.
"We started slowly in the first 15 minutes of the second half and conceded the penalty and then the second one was a strange goal [which] for me is the fragility of the team."
The travelling Villa supporters vented their anger at the club's owner by chanting "Randy Lerner out", but Garde insists it did not distract his players.
"Not at all a distraction for me," he said. "I was concentrating on the game and I think the players [were] doing the same.
"This is not part of our job to comment on the situation. My job is to concentrate on the job. I try to keep this team as high as I can with the tools that I have got and I'm only focused on that. I'm not here to comment on any other things.
"We've improved our team spirit on what we have done, or not done, in this game.
"We were at the same level we were at before the Liverpool game, but then we were without our attacking forward, so didn't create enough."
