John McGinn insists Villa will keep feet on ground after another impressive win

John McGinn scored the winner against Arsenal (Jacob King/PA)

John McGinn insists Aston Villa will remain level-headed despite being touted as Premier League title contenders.

Villa captain McGinn scored the winner as Unai Emery’s side beat Arsenal 1-0 on Saturday evening to move two points off the top of the table.

The victory also extended Villa’s winning league run at home to a club-record 15 games.

The fighting victory over Arsenal came just three days after reigning champions Manchester City fell by the same scoreline at Villa Park, leading plenty of voices to install Villa firmly into the title race this season.

John McGinn scored Villa’s winner (Jacob King/PA)

“It’s a huge win but we’ve got to keep our feet on the ground,” McGinn told VillaTV.

“These teams are used to being up and around there and we’re not. We need to try and manage the games as best we can going into a really busy spell.”

Former Gunners boss Emery said he had to be “clinical” with his substitutions having opted to name the same Villa starting XI in both games.

The tiredness in some of his players was clear to see as Saturday’s clash progressed, but Villa held on and McGinn was keen to praise the effort of the whole squad.

“A big shout to all the boys who came on,” he added.

“It’s not easy coming into a game like that. Arsenal have scored a lot of late goals this season, so we had to be switched on and really concentrate.

“The tiredness from the past two weeks started to kick in and there were some dead bodies out there – me included – but it was an absolutely monumental effort. It wasn’t pretty at times but they’re a great side. What a week.”

Arsenal thought they had salvaged a point when Kai Havertz bundled home from close range in the last