Several names have been mentioned as possible replacements to Martin O’Neill however Bulgarian international Petrov feels that the job should go to interim boss MacDonald.
“The way he prepared us for the game showed us that he wants to hold onto that job – and I hope we can help him take that job,” said Petrov.
“We are behind him. He has been at the club a long time, done a great job with the youth and he has the opportunity to do it now.
“I said to him before the game, ‘you try and hold onto that job’.
“He knows it’s hard. Expectations are high and people want success and they talk about big names – but he has the opportunity and he is really determined to stay there.
“We played really well, we showed what we can do and if it keeps going that way there is no reason why he cannot make his own name.
“There are those managers who like the show and the attention – and then there are those such as Kevin.
“I’m not going to say it is in Kevin’s hands now but much will depend on how Kevin feels, whether he thinks this might be right for him, if he is comfortable with the idea of being Villa’s manager.
“He is such a cool guy, he is popular with the players who really played for him and with the fans and the press. We will see how he feels when he wakes up from this and then we will look at the situation from there.”
