Ange Postecoglou put on his blinkers and warned the race for Champions League football would be congested after Tottenham’s second-half romp.
And the Spurs boss turned a blind eye to skipper Heung-min Son’s frustration when he was substituted - before Postecoglou’s side ran out handsome winners. Big Ange admitted he had the hump after losing at Crystal Palace seven days earlier - but now he is eyeing the top four after Tottenham demolished Villa.
Asked if it could be a bigger bunfight for the top four this season - a duel Villa won last May - Postecoglou said: “I don’t spend too much time thinking about it, but this year there is probably more congestion (at the top end) in terms of the field itself, so we will have to deal with it.
“While we're running in the race, I don't like looking either side of me. I keep saying to the players: if I was a race-horse, and I'm not, it would be one with blinkers. I'm just looking at the finish line. I think that's right, I don't know much about horse racing, but we have to stay true to the course we’re on.
“Seven days ago I was a grumpy old so-and-so, but we made sure not to feel sorry for ourselves and get back to being the team we want to be. You don’t fall off a cliff or climb mountains in a week - we are going to have bumps along the way, and it’s the way you rebound from them that matters.
“We had a disappointing day last Sunday, but we had two get our heads straight. Villa are a very good side - they have a level of performance that rarely drops. It was a tight first half, we had to match up with them and it was disappointing for them to score.
“But after that, we have other gears in us and we showed that in the second half. After the performance in midweek (knocking Manchester City out of the Carabao Cup), I thought it was an outstanding effort.”
Son was disgruntled to be replaced after 56 minutes, when the score was 1-1, and asked ‘Why?’ when his number came up. But Postecoglou’s squad management was vindicated, and he said: “Sonny was never going to play more than 55 minutes.
“Last time he came back from injury he got to the 60-minute mark and got injured again. This time got through unscathed.” Villa conceded four goals in a half for the first time since their 4-0 home defeat by Spurs eight months ago, but head coach Unai Emery was philosophical afterwards.
He said: “We won two times here and we knew how to win here but they are a good team. We are disappointed, frustrated but we are accepting it. We know our way, it is 38 matches, the league is very tight.
“To lose 4-1 is a tough result but the match we played was more or less in line with the expectation I had.” And skipper John McGinn admitted: “We've got to keep our heads a wee bit in there and have some perspective.
“Many teams will come here and suffer that defeat. It's about staying positive. Spurs beat us 4-0 last season and we finished above them.”