John McGinn apologised to the Aston Villa fans after the 4-0 thumping at Brighton, but the team's captain is refusing to hit the panic button just yet. Jack Hinshelwood struck twice in two first-half minutes as rampant Brighton ruthlessly exploited Villa with four goals in the opening 45 minutes, while midfielder Joao Gomes was sent off on his league debut five minutes shy of half-time to add to Villa's woes. With Brighton four goals up and Villa a man down, much of the second period was played at a pedestrian pace, but McGinn was full of praise for the character his side showed in not conceding in the second half before providing some hope after some similar poor starts in the past.
"We started the game very well," McGinn said. "We had the chance to go ahead with Emi Buendia. We were the ones to create the chances.
But, playing at the highest level, when you make a mistake, they happen. "The goals we conceded were poor, there's no getting away from that." Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player He added: "Going away in the Premier League, we obviously apologise to the supporters, it's not easy to travel, costs a lot of money, takes a lot of time. And they don't want to come here and see their team lose by four goals before half-time.
"But on the flipside, 4-0 down at the Amex with 10 men, we had to stand up in the second half and the squad of players in there, we had a chance to puff our chests out, be men and fight and we did that. "We're obviously angry and disappointed at the result. We set high standards and that's far away from that.
However, there's a bit of me that's proud at how we reacted. Today could easily have got away from us and got messy. A lot of pride in the second-half performance.
"After five games last season we had one point. Hopefully this season can go the same way as that." Sky Sports' Daniel Sturridge: "Brighton absolutely blitzed Aston Villa in the first half. "The intesity they put into the performance, particularly in the first half, was really impressive.
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