*Aston Villa boss Dean Smith said his side produced “a performance that merited the result” after his side eventually ran out comfortable winners at Derby County.*

Scotland midfielder John McGinn nodded in Villa’s opener from Yannick Bolasie’s left-wing cross in the 75th minute and then turned provider for Tammy Abraham to double the lead.

Conor Hourihane’s superb free-kick wrapped up Villa’s first away win since their opening game of the season.

“I said today was an opportunity to draw a line in the sand about what we can be and they’ve certainly done that, but their standards are up there now and that’s where we want them to stay,” Smith told BBC WM.

“It gives everybody a boost. I said I wanted a team that was hungry and showed desire to go and create chances and we did that.”

Villa ended Derby’s six-match unbeaten run in the Championship, creating several good chances but failing to find the net until they scored three times in 11 minutes late on.

McGinn, Abraham and Jonathan Kodjia had all been guilty of wasting opportunities at Pride Park as Derby struggled to contain their visitors, and the hosts could not hold out.

Derby’s best chances came in one frantic passage of play just before half-time, with Villa keeper Orjan Nyland keeping out efforts from Jack Marriott and Harry Wilson in quick succession.

Otherwise, Villa were on top for the most part and recorded their biggest win of the season to climb into the top half of the Championship table.

Smith was making his second visit to Pride Park this season, having lost 3-1 as Brentford boss in September, and it was starting to appear likely he would endure another frustrating afternoon against the Rams as the game headed towards the final 15 minutes.

However, McGinn ghosted in unmarked to score his second goal for the club and England international Abraham netted his fifth since joining on loan from Chelsea to put the result beyond doubt before Hourihane’s free-kick capped a fine day.