McGinn calls for calm as Villa move into top four

John McGinn urged his Aston Villa team-mates to temper their excitement after moving into the top four with victory at Tottenham.

Spurs started the better and went ahead through Giovani Lo Celso before visiting defender Pau Torres levelled things in first-half injury time.

Unai Emery's visitors were much improved after the break and Ollie Watkins' seventh goal of the season proved enough for them to leave North London with a precious three points.

Villa skipper McGinn, 29, was thrilled with the result but also stressed the need for composure in the weeks ahead.

He said: "They [Tottenham] are a top team, there's no getting away from that. 

"That's why we're so delighted at the end there. But we need to keep a lid on it, stay humble and try to keep going.

"We're in the pack at the moment but we need to keep it up. We've got a tough couple of weeks coming up and we're excited for it."

The Scottish international felt the half-time introduction of his fellow midfielder Youri Tielemans helped tilt the game in Villa's favour.

He added: "The first half didn’t represent how we've been playing this season and we were fortunate to go in level.

"But I thought Youri was outstanding second half. He put his foot on the ball and we also had a great outlet in Leon Bailey.

"It was a great ball from Youri and a great finish from Ollie."

Watkins' goal came after he had seen an earlier strike chalked out for offside following a lengthy VAR intervention. 

Replays showed the fine margins involved and the England ace, 27, managed to see the funny side of the situation.

Watkins said: "I reckon if I was a size seven or eight it would've been a goal!

"It either goes your way or it doesn't. Obviously, Pau's one [the first goal] was tight. We got that and that was a massive boost to go in 1-1 at half-time.

And the striker echoed McGinn's call for heightened focus heading into a challenging run of fixtures.

He said: "We're not getting carried away. We're not even at Christmas yet and we have some tough matches coming up so we have to keep going."