John McGinn urges Aston Villa to use Derby win as a springboard to success

The Scot headed the opener to set Dean Smith’s men on course for a 3-0 victory at Pride Park, with what was comfortably their best performance of the season to date.

Villa now sit 11th in the table, still four points adrift of the top six, yet McGinn believes they have now set a benchmark for the remainder of the campaign.

“It’s a mad league,” he said. “One win can take you up six or seven places, while a defeat takes you the other way.

“It’s so important to try and put a run together. The most successful teams can put six or seven wins together in a row and that is something we are aiming for. Hopefully Saturday can be the start of it.”

McGinn continued: “We have set the standard now. It’s a very difficult league, we all know that.

“To win in this league you have to be at it and everyone needs to be working hard. We have not seen it enough this season.

“That is the benchmark now. We need to use this performance to go and really kick on.

“It is pleasing to maybe silence a few critics but at the same time we need to really show what this squad can do. It’s no use just doing it for one game. We need to try and carry it on.”

Tammy Abraham and Conor Hourihane were also on the mark as Villa recorded their biggest win of the season to date, against a Rams team who had entered the game on a six-match unbeaten run.

Villa now face rivals Blues after the international break and summer signing McGinn, who will experience his first taste of a Second City derby, admits confidence is now on a high.

“I have heard a lot about the derby,” he said. “I didn’t know they were nicknamed Blues until I joined but I have heard a lot about them.

“It’s not going to be easy. It will be a tough game but one I am really looking forward to getting my teeth into and hopefully sending the fans home happy.

“A game like that you need confidence and this was a massive one for that. All the boys played at the top of their game.

“These are the sort of games I relish. You know what it means to people. They don’t want to be going into work on a Monday morning with a defeat. We will be doing everything we can to win that one.”