Aston Villa have proven all bases are covered with springboard for success

Aston Villa's young guns 'beat' Bolton Wanderers' first team on Tuesday night, after claiming two points via a penalty shootout win

After the full time whistle at the Toughsheet Stadium on Tuesday evening, after the modest crowd had dispersed and the celebratory group of Aston Villa youths had taken their entourage back into Bolton Wanderers' away dressing room, goalkeeper Oliwier Zych re-emerged alone. Making for a now empty away end, which had held just under 100 visiting fans, Zych embraced presumably family members who must've been bursting with pride.

You couldn't be possibly anything else after witnessing that performance. At 20, Zych is still practically a baby in footballing terms - especially for a goalkeeper, when you consider how some between the sticks can go on to play well into their 30s and, in some cases, into their 40s - and yet this was a night in which there was an air of seniority about him. The only surviving member of the XI which had beaten Fleetwood, he captained this side.

What an impossibly young group to lead out, too, against such hardened opposition as Bolton posed. So many of these lads are 16 and 17 that you could've recreated Will McKenzie's rant in the pub as he outed his underage, beer-slurping schoolmates. As mentioned, Zych at 20 is no seasoned pro but, with the leadership responsibilities, lead by example he did.

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Villa could've been 2-0 down inside 90 seconds, and that's no exaggeration. Zych was summoned into action to keep out Aaron Collins. It was the surest sign that a busy night lay in store, and Bolton didn't disappoint in that regard. Collins v Zych was like a match-up, in which the former would test the latter with regularity, but he refused to be beaten.

Zych, with the admirable pairing of Ethan Amundsen-Day and Leon Routh in front of him, held Bolton at bay. A quarter of an hour in, Collins turned Randell Williams' cross goalward with a powerful header but Zych somehow managed to acrobatically squeeze it around the post. Almost half an hour into the game, Collins was again bearing down on goal, this time with a fierce strike from range. Again, Zych was equal, palming one-handed over the bar.

More so than his athletic saves and strong wrists, it was Zych's bravery and decision making thereafter which impressed; often he was battling through a crowd to claim corner kick deliveries which hung awkwardly in the air. He won a free kick when reaching down low, where his head was at shin height. Then it was his distribution, which got Villa on their way for the opening goal.

Zych has a good understanding of how to 'play' the game. He picked up a yellow card for taking his time over a goal kick in the first half. Some may have considered that needless and avoidable, but it just gave his young counterparts a minute of composure with the ball out of play. He then collected another in the penalty shoot-out. Again, it did the trick and unnerved George Thomason who saw his penalty eventually saved.

The young Pole had to be alive to everything in the second half, which was a little like the Alamo. Bolton defenders were only about 30 yards from the Villa goal for large parts, camped well into the Villa half as attack after attack rained down on the Lions' penalty area. Still, they couldn't find a way past him until burly number nine Victor Adeboyejo arrived on the scene and forced penalties.

The quality of the saves to keep out Thomason and Collins - the latter who at this stage must've considered that that very much summed up his own fortune for the entire evening in front of goal - married up with Zych's general performance. He deservedly led the celebrations at the death and will now surely be looking forward to a trip to Barrow and the prospect of topping this EFL Trophy group.

It's easy to forget that Zych has enjoyed the benefit of a loan spell, unlike many of his fellow academy products; he returned to Poland last season, and played 26 times for Puszcza Niepołomice in the Ekstraklasa - the top division - following their promotion the season previous. Zych came up against the likes of Lech Poznan and Legia Warsaw, kept seven clean sheets, helped the club to survival and was nominated for the goalkeeper of the season.

Upon his return, he has found the small matter of a World Cup winner, and two further international goalkeepers, blocking his route to the first-team. Villa moved to bring in Joe Gauci, who played against Wycombe Wanderers recently, from Australia last January with the intention of working with him in the coming years, with a view to him potentially becoming club number one in time - not that Emi Martinez is going anywhere right now.

You have Robin Olsen, albeit who is out of contract next summer, too in the pecking order ahead of Zych, but what it does show is that if you scratch beneath the surface - or even take out a spade and begin digging - the sheer depth of ability in various positions across the pitch for Villa is pretty staggering. Naturally, not every player can play all the time and, especially in the goalkeeping department, it's very much single file.

It was a situation which left Viljami Sinisalo with a decision to make in the summer; fresh from excelling at League One Exeter City, and having previously had experiences of Ayr United and Burton, the time came earlier this year for the young Fin to spread his wings and fly the Villa nest. While he's still not playing regularly at Celtic, he is number two at a Champions League club - he likely would've been fourth choice at Villa this season.

It means Sinisalo is likelier to be exposed to first-team minutes at a high level, playing for a club which boasts as equally an illustrious history as Villa, and with his whole career still really ahead of him. That's heartening for Zych, who can continue safe in the knowledge that a fruitful senior footballing career may lie in front of him, irrespective of whether that's at Villa or not, if he turns in more displays like the one we witnessed on Tuesday night.

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