Alan Pardew: "Leon is a guy who has been around the game a long time.
"He has not really had the chances at Premier League level that he feels he deserves.
"Leon has great belief in himself. He gets a start, he gets a goal, and he keeps the shirt, it's as simple as that in my book.
"I'm pleased for him and he will be in against Blackburn next week and I hope he scores again.
"I was really buoyed by our performance because when you come to Villa, you don't expect to control the game for as long as we did.
"We got a grip of the central area of the pitch and Yohan Cabaye and Cheick Tiote were outstanding.
"If we can get Cabaye on the ball, you would pay good money to watch him.
"He was beautiful today and deserved a goal and it was a fantastic save by Shay Given that kept him out.
"But I've got to be really pleased to get a draw here and with the performance we gave, and I felt we perhaps deserved the win.
"I thought we looked a threat the whole game and we created great chances and it bodes well for us going forward."