Aston Villa manager Gemma Davies has praised her side for not letting the occasion get to them in their vital 4-0 win over Bristol City on Wednesday night.

The win moves Villa from 11th up to ninth in the Women’s Super League, but the pressure is still on as they are only four points ahead of bottom place Bristol City.

Davies said: "There’s a feeling of immense satisfaction that we’ve rose to the occasion. We’ve performed and ultimately we’ve executed a plan. We’ve scored four very good goals, kept a clean sheet and we’re walking away with three points.

"We’ve been growing slowly. The growth has been particularly evident over recent weeks. Naturally there was a lot of pressure on the game for obvious reasons. But that pressure comes with opportunity. It comes with an opportunity to rise, to perform and execute.

"But pressure is also accountability and us as a group be responsible for our actions when it matters the most. The players did that and more so far. We have another big 48 hours to come in terms of our prep into Spurs."

The victory was Villa’s second league win of the season, a record they need to improve upon if they are to ensure survival come the end of the campaign.

And Davies remains confident they will avoid relegation, especially as they have an in-form Shania Hayles, who scored twice and assisted another at Twerton Park.

"The second goal that she scored it was an insane angle. That’s the quality that she has," Davies added.

"It was a matter of time for her before she found the back of the net. She had another terrific 90 minutes. I’ll repeat myself but the kid’s got a lot of potential."

Villa will play Tottenham Hotspur this weekend in the WSL.