Calum Chambers felt Aston Villa were good value for their Carabao Cup win against Bolton Wanderers on Tuesday night.
The hosts put Villa under pressure in a hard-fought first half and led the tie when Dion Charles scored after 24 minutes.
Douglas Luiz levelled matters before the visitors ran away with the game in the second half, scoring three times to take a 4-1 win.
Chambers said: “These games aren’t easy, so it was important for us to be focussed and up for the game, and I think we were.
“They started strongly in the first half and we knew that we had to ride that wave in the first half and that our quality would come through in the end.
He added: “Teams are always going to have chances and throw everything at it. It was never going to be easy.
“They did that in the first half and it was just about us trying to manage that, control it and play until our strengths came through.”
Head coach Steven Gerrard signalled his ambitions for a cup run by naming a strong side to face the League One team, and Chambers is keen to progress through the rounds.
“We want to do well in every competition and go as far as we can,” he said.
“We showed that tonight with our intent and the way we played.”
Attentions swiftly turn back to the club’s Premier League campaign and a home fixture against West Ham United on Sunday.
Chambers said: “That was the talk before the game, to get a good result here and take it into the weekend.
“We know we’ve got to bounce back from last weekend and we’re ready to do that.”
