By Dan Harrison

Luke Young was delighted with his well-taken strike which defeated Everton - but insists bagging three points gave him greater satisfaction.

The goalscorer gave Villa a dream start when he raced on to Ashley Young's through ball and expertly chipped a left-foot shot over goalkeeper Tim Howard.

While it was pleasing for the full-back, he was more concerned about the "massive" victory for his team.

Young told AVTV: "I didn't really have much time to think about it.

"Youngy has played me in and before you know it, I am taking a shot and luckily for me it has curled in the corner.

"We needed a start. We needed to get the fans on our side and we needed to match Everton for the start they can sometimes bring to the game and we did that. It gave us a lift for the rest of the game.

"It was a good feeling for the goal but I just think the game was massive for us. It was such a big game and suddenly everything has turned round for us again.

"But I was just delighted we could get away with a good start here.

"That is what we needed and I think the lads worked extremely hard for each other. It was a big performance and a big win.

"We've got two wins out of three games as opposed to the doom and gloom going into this game.

"If we hadn't have picked up anything it would have been a bit of a depressing international break for some of the boys."

Young admits his second Villa goal was somewhat classier than his first.

It was nearly two years ago when he scored his first goal in claret and blue, in a victory over Blackburn Rovers.

The defender was quick to pay tribute to his namesake, who supplied the precise pass.

He added: "This was a little bit better than the first one! I think I connected twice off my thigh the last time I scored!

"Young has been brilliant all season. In the first three or four games he has played he has looked lively and I thought again here he played really well.

"He joked that he thought it was Marc Albrighton making the run and if he'd have known it was me he wouldn't have given me it! But it was a great ball from Youngy.

"I used to make those kind of runs when I was a bit younger in my Charlton days. Maybe I'll start making a few more now."

After giving Villa an early lead, Young played his part in a heroic defensive display, particularly in the closing stages.

The claret and blues' back four came under intense scrutiny, as Everton bombarded the penalty area with set-pieces and corners.

Young admits the show of resolve was the perfect way to respond after the defeats to Newcastle and Rapid Vienna.

He said: "I think perhaps we haven't worked so hard as a unit in the last two games and here we did.

"There were people throwing their bodies on the line and the last 10 minutes were really tough.

"Everyone was together and we got a great win. The amount of corners that they had, it felt like a dozen at least in the last 10 minutes.

"Credit to Brad Friedel as well at the end, keeping lively until the 95th minute and making a save down to his right hand side."