ASTON Villa midfielder John McGinn admitted “if I was watching on the telly, I’d have turned off” after the clash with Saints at Villa Park.

The Scottish international was a key part of the home side’s 1-0 win over Ralph Hasenhuttl’s men, despite escaping a yellow card for a wrestling move on Moussa Djenepo.

It was a dull affair in front of the Sky Sports cameras in the Midlands, with the two sides registering just four shots on goal between the across 90 minutes.

Only one of those was from Saints – Sekou Mara sending a tame header bouncing towards goalkeeper Emi Martinez – as Hasenhuttl’s charges limped into the international break.

McGinn shared the assessment of many supporters, admitting to Sky Sports after the match: “If I was watching on the telly I’d have turned it off, but we did well to manage the performance.

“It's huge. We’ve been criticised this season for not grafting and not fighting, giving away cheap points,” he added. “Tonight, we fought for every ball and it wasn’t pretty but it was a huge three points.

“We graft week in week out and it’s a waste if you don’t get anything out of it. There’s a lot of criticism as a team so you either go into your shell or puff your chest out and do something about it.

“We’ve had a week off so I don’t know, we’ve not been on great form and not clicking but once we got the goal it was about staying strong. Every team in this league can create chances and we limited Southampton to very few.”

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