Ezri Konsa praised an “excellent” defensive showing from his side, after Aston Villa left Brighton & Hove Albion with a comprehensive 3-0 victory.
Unai Emery’s men defended astutely from minute one at the Amex Stadium, scoring three second-half goals to ensure they left the south coast with a second-successive away Premier League win.
Konsa was pleased with the solidarity at the back, and cited spirit, desire and mentality as key factors behind this.
The England man said: “I thought defensively we were excellent. Everyone on the pitch, all 11 of us, we stuck together.
“First half, they put a bit of pressure on us, but I didn’t feel really threatened at all.
“Second half, the game opened up, they were trying to put more pressure (on us), and we managed to get them on the counter attack a few times and got three goals.
“I think it was the desire from everyone. We’ve kept a few clean sheets now, in a row.
“It’s the mentality. We knew this season we’ve conceded a few too many goals, but the last few games, we’ve shown we can keep clean sheets, and tonight we showed it again.”
While being pleased with a successful night in Sussex, concentration for Konsa is now immediately on the weekend, and Saturday’s crucial home clash with Nottingham Forest, as Villa again go in search of European football for next season.
He added: “We knew today was an important game for us. It was a must win. We came here to win, and that’s what we did.
“We want to play European football again. Champions League (qualification) is the main goal, and we’ll now focus on Saturday, another big one for us.
“I think we have to focus on taking it game by game. We focused on tonight, and now it’s all eyes on Saturday, another good one.”
