Villa's Vlaar eager to build on Norwich rout

Two first-half goals from Belgian striker Christian Benteke put the hosts ahead after Wes Hoolahan's early opener, before Leandro Bacuna's curled effort and Sebastien Bassong's own goal wrapped up the win for Paul Lambert's side before the break.

Vlaar could not hide his delight at the contribution of man-of-the-match Benteke, telling Sky Sports: "All the chances we had were a goal. I think we didn't start that well and then the big man (Benteke) started to show what he is capable of and he scored some great goals."

The win was Villa's first in four Premier League outings and opens up a seven-point gap between them and the relegation zone.

And Vlaar is now eager for them to use the result as a platform on which to secure their Premier League safety.

He added: "We didn't score many goals in the last few games but today it all came to life for us and we really needed this for everybody. We were struggling a little bit in the last few weeks and this was a massive win for us.

"They (Norwich) won against Tottenham last week so they were in good mood.

"We still need a lot more points but this is a good start."