Aston Villa 3 Rotherham United 0: Alan Stubbs refusing to be downbeat as first win proves elusive

Aston Villa's Jack Grealish scores his side's third goal, beating Rotherham United goalkeeper Lee Camp. Picture: Nick Potts/PA.

They contributed to their own downfall with defensive errors, but the former Hibs chief called for some perspective.

“We’re always disappointed when we lose, but I thought up until the first goal we were in the game,” he said.

“Overall, we needed to show a little more belief when we had the ball. The first goal was disappointing, it came from an unforced error and it put an awful lot of pressure on us.

Rotherham United manager Alan Stubbs catches up with his Aston Villa counterpart Roberto Di Matteo at Villa Park on Saturday. Picture: Nick Potts/PA.

“I thought the players stuck at it, but it’s a long season. We are not going to get too downhearted.

“It showed us that we were up against a team that has significantly more resources than us. They have just paid a record amount of money for one of their strikers (Ross McCormack) so we have to be realistic.

“We are not going to get downbeat. We won’t be the last team to come here and get beat.”

Roberto Di Matteo was delighted his players got to enjoy that winning feeling again. It had been 190 days of hurt for Villa, who suffered a dismal relegation from the Premier League last season, since their last win way on February 6 when they beat Norwich 2-0.

Aston Villa's Ross McCormack runs at Rotherham United's defence at Villa Park. Picture: Nick Potts/PA.

This season under Di Matteo had started inauspiciously after two defeats, including a 3-1 reverse at League Two Luton in the EFL Cup, but they hit the ground running on home soil as Rudy Gestede’s double and a late Jack Grealish strike blew the Millers away.

The Italian felt it was important that his men remembered what it felt like to win and hopes that will give them confidence.

“I am not relieved, I am pleased because I could see some positive signs despite the fact we lost the first game,” he said. “I could see we are improving and we will keep improving.

“Many of our players haven’t had that feeling for a long time, so to have that feeling is very important for the players and the fans.

“We wanted to win our first home game and make Villa Park a difficult place for teams to come. It was important to have a team performance overall and it resulted in a good win.”

Aston Villa: Gollini, Bacuna, Elphick, Chester, Cissokho, Ayew (Traore 74), Westwood, Tshibola, Grealish (Green 90), McCormack (Gardner 85), Gestede. Unused substitutes: Richards, Hutton, Amavi, Bunn.

Rotherham United: Camp, Kelly, Ball, Wood, Mattock (Fisher 71), Forster-Caskey (Yates 59), Vaulks, Smallwood, Forde, Ward, Taylor. Unused substitutes: Allan, Price, Kelvin Wilson, Thorpe, Warren.

Referee: K Stroud (Hampshire).

Man of the match: Rudy Gestede.