Ciaran Clark believed that Aston Villa got the point they deserved after drawing 0-0 with Manchester City on Sunday afternoon, adding that the players enjoyed coming off the field to cheers.
An unlikely point against the league leaders saw the Villans stay bottom of the league, but ended a torrid run of seven consecutive league defeats, and offered evidence that things are likely to improve under new manager Remi Garde.
With Joleon Lescott dropped to the bench, Clark partnered captain Micah Richards in the defence, and the pair managed to keep Manuel Pellegrini's men out, surviving more than a few scares along the way.
Villa deserved point, says Clark
Although he conceded that "they had a few chances themselves", Clark felt that Villa were "unlucky not to get the three points" after having a "couple of half chances" towards the end of the game, but got a "deserved point" overall.
He remained in a positive mood despite this, explaining that they "got the clean sheet we wanted", and defended well "from front to back", something which they'd struggled to do in previous games - shipping 13 in their previous six league games.
Defender delighted to raise spirit of fans
All in all, it was an encouraging day for not only the players, but the fans too, as they roared every tackle and applauded every pass. Clark revealed that "it's always nice" to be applauded off the pitch, and to "hear everyone happy" at the end of the 90.
Getting a point against all the odds will go a long way to pick up the confidence and belief of Villa's players, especially after such a disappointing start to the season. Clarke stated that he and the rest of the squad have "always believed we're good enough", but did admit that "you lose a bit of confidence" when you lose so many on the bounce.
Rounding things off, he stated that Villa have got to "look to the future", as they search for survival. That search for survival has still got 26 games to go, plenty of time for more twists and turns.