"It was a great win and it's nice to go into the Chelsea game with three points on the board," said the skipper.
"Over the last few seasons we have been frustrated with the start we've made, we've lost silly points and have been playing catch-up. The idea this time is to come out of the blocks quickly and stay in the title race.
"We were pleased with the first 60 minutes, I thought we controlled the game. Villa came back into the game but we managed to pull it out of the bag late doors."