Saturday 6 February 2016 21:25, UK
Remi Garde says his Aston Villa players deserved a victory despite not playing their best football in the 2-0 win over Norwich.
Goals from Joleon Lescott and Gabriel Agbonlahor either side of half time saw Villa secure their third Premier League win of the season at the expense of relegation rivals Norwich, who drop into the bottom three.
The visitors had the better of the chances in the first half at Villa Park but Garde said his side were much improved, and deserved the three points, after a tweak in formation.
He said: "Very pleased for the players because they deserve a victory, not especially today I mean because I'm not sure we played our best game, but we won and all the credit is for the players.
"We would like to play better football and in the first half I was not happy with the football we played but then I changed the shape of the team in the second half and then I think we were in a better position to have better football. We had many opportunities on the counter attack that we didn't play very well."
Garde also praised forward Agbonlahor, who latched on to Jordan Veretout's through ball six minutes into the second half to score his first goal in 21 games.
The 29-year-old was linked with a move away from the club in the transfer window but Garde says that was not on the cards and denied there was ever a problem between the two.
"I'm very pleased about the way he worked very hard for the team. He had some good opportunities and the best one he had he scored a goal because Gabby is a striker and likes those types of ball," Garde said.
"More than the goal, this is the way he behaves for the team, works hard and this is the kind of behaviour I need for the team currently.
"We received no offer and Gabby was still an Aston Villa player. He had many slight problems since I arrived but now he seems to be much better. We spoke always and there is no problem."
The win means Aston Villa are seven points from safety on 16 points.
This time last year Leicester sat bottom of the Premier League with 17 points from 25 games before conducting a remarkable escape from the drop and Garde says his players believe Villa can do the same.
"Until the end it will be possible, until mathematically it is done one way or the other, we still have to believe," he said. "The way we played today, the way we fight, the way the players behave currently means that everybody is still believing.
"Everybody knows we sometimes have things against us but we are still there and we will fight until the end for sure."
