John McGinn savoured a deserved three points against Southampton at Villa Park on Friday night.
The Aston Villa captain saw fellow midfielder Jacob Ramsey net the only goal of the game as the hosts ended a four-game winless run.
McGinn said the team stood up to be counted after a tough sequence of results.
He said: “We can obviously play better, there’s no doubt about that. We can be more fluid and create more chances.
“But when you’re under pressure – as a team, personally, the manager – we owed him some fight and the supporters some fight.
“Tonight, from start to finish, we fought for every ball, and it was a deserved three points.”
He added: “We’ve been criticised as a team and rightly so, Aston Villa is a demanding club. When you don’t get results, you get criticism.
“You either go into your shell or you puff your chest out and try and do something about it. To a man, we fought and grafted.
“It’s given us a platform to push up this table.”
A resilient defensive display nullified Saints all night in B6, and they failed to call Emi Martinez into a save.
McGinn was happy to see the game over the line in relative comfort given the pressure on the team to get a win.
“The supporters that have been coming here for 10 or 15 years, I’m sure they don’t feel too comfortable in those moments,” he said.
“We’ve let leads slip far too many times at Villa Park, so [we’re happy to get] a clean sheet and a 1-0 victory.
“The ideal scenario is playing free-flowing football but under the circumstances, it’s a great three points. After the results of this season, it’s much needed.”
