James Chester calls for Aston Villa to kick on after beating Derby
Captain James Chester has challenged Villa to kick on and finish the season strongly after Saturday's 1-0 win over Derby ended their ten-game winless run.
The skipper netted the only goal of the game at Villa Park as the hosts edged past the Rams to secure a first victory of 2017 and snap a sequence which had seen them lose seven out of eight in the Championship.
Villa, who are now eight points clear of the bottom three, have the chance to follow up Saturday's success when they host Bristol City on Tuesday night and Chester is targeting another win to end any lingering relegation fears.
"It's nice to have a game so soon after and being at home, hopefully we can get another win and go on a run toward the end of the season," he said.
"We knew how important it is as a group to get out of a run we are on. Certainly, for this club, what we have produced over the last six or seven weeks has not been good enough."
Chester's goal, his first since December 2014, was enough to secure a win which eased the pressure on boss Steve Bruce.
Villa had less than a third of the total possession and though their performance was far from perfect, the result was all important.
"It's certainly a relief," said Chester. "The run we have been of late has not been enjoyable or anywhere near good enough.
"Having experienced things like this in the past the longer it goes on the harder it is to get out of. The performance and the result we got today was exactly what we needed."
He added: "It's been a long time since I last scored. It's certainly a strange feeling and I am delighted with it, particularly the clean sheet. I'm claiming the assist and the goal to be honest.
"I think I sorted my feet out pretty quickly and managed to set it up for my head and knock it in. It's nice to score but with the run we were on the result was most important."