Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard said his side's scrappy win over Southampton at Villa Park was a "big victory".
Villa secured only their second Premier League win of the season as Jacob Ramsey scored the only goal of the game, and Gerrard said his side reacted to the criticism they had faced.
"It wasn't pretty or stylish but, with where we were in the league, we knew we had to do it in a pragmatic way," said Gerrard.
"I'm really proud of the boys' effort, application and commitment. We played better than we did last time.