MARTIN Olsson was delighted to lay on the pass for his pal Junior Hoilett as Rovers ended the 2009-10 season with an impressive 1-0 away win at Aston Villa.

The Swede, who has had a season to remember, sent over a teasing cross six minutes from time that Richard Dunne diverted onto the head of Junior Hoilett and past former Rover Brad Friedel into the goals, to clinch the win and a league double over Martin O'Neill's side.

Speaking after the game, Olsson was pleased to play his part, not only in creating the goal but also a strong team display.

 

"I heard Dunny calling for me to play the ball back to him," said Olsson. "But I saw Junior in front and I thought I'd just thought I'd whip it into the box and it went in.

"We came here a couple of months ago and we played some good football, but we let in too many goals.

"But we've shown this time that we can play well defensively and with the formation we played with three at the back and wing-backs coming on I thought it worked well.

"Up front we had Junior and Jason making the runs and that made it easier to find the passes."

The win over Villa means Rovers have ended the campaign in 10th place, and with just the one defeat from their last nine games, the players can go into their summer breaks full of confidence for the next campaign.

"I think we've got stronger mentally as the season has gone on and with that we've become a better team," added the Swedish under 21 star.

"We've got a good mix here of youth and experienced players, it gives us a lot of confidence, we enjoy playing with each other.

"We've shown in recent games that we can play football and get points. We just have to keep working hard when we get back for pre-season and see where that takes us.

"We can come back more confident knowing that we finished the season in tenth place."