Manager admits disappointment at losing star to Aston Villa

Melbourne City boss Warren Joyce has revealed that he is disappointed after striker Ross McCormack returned to Aston Villa following a highly successful loan spell in Australia.

McCormack joined Melbourne as a replacement for the injured Bruno Fornaroli and ended up going on to score 14 goals from just 17 appearances.

Joyce has revealed that he hopes to keep McCormack for a longer period of time but added that no deal could be reached with Villa.

“It’s disappointing to lose Ross,” Joyce said.

“We weren’t able to reach an agreement between the two clubs and that is football. We have to get on with it.

“The last two games he had an Achilles problem so we had to adjust. He came on late in both games and hadn’t had a lot of training so we had to adjust before that, we’ve prepared without him in the last two games.

“We hope he looks back on his time in Melbourne and thoroughly enjoyed it. He was a hit with the fans and players so I think it worked for both parties. It’s just disappointing and frustrating we couldn’t come to an agreement and prolong it until the end of the season.”

It remains to be seen what lies ahead for McCormack. He seemingly has no future at Villa Park following a fall-out with manager Steve Bruce.