Victory showed Villa's character - Laursen

Oct 11 2007 By Bill Howell, Birmingham Mail

MARTIN Laursen says the victory over West Ham proved as much about the depth of character in the squad as it did about their performances on the park.

Villa entered the game in a positive frame of mind after throwing away a 4-1 lead at Tottenham.

"I think we showed we have learned a lot about how to win," Laursen said. "When we're ahead, we have to keep the ball better, defend higher and not drop deep and still put the opposition under pressure.

"After our disappointment at Tottenham, it was really nice to go ahead, not concede chances and play better in the second half than we did against Spurs.

"Obviously you will come under pressure, but we did those things well and I thought we kept the ball well too when we could. It was a great victory.

"We were calm when we had the ball, we didn't just throw it away and give them the ball so we were under pressure.

"We kept it when we could and played with more knowledge. We needed to do that and show we've learned from our mistakes and it seems we have learned from Tottenham, which is good for the future."

Laursen's own injury concerns now appear to be a long way behind him after playing in all eight of Villa's league games to date.

He added: "I'm really pleased with my physical shape, my knee is fine and I'm feeling excellent. I'm enjoying playing in this team and enjoying being here.

"That's the best thing about being out for a long time, you really enjoy every second when you come back and feel so good and play so well.

"My goal when I was alone in the gym in Italy was to be able to stand and talk with the media about my success, so it's very nice that it's happened."