Paul Lambert felt his Aston Villa side deserved their 1-0 win over Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on New Year's Day.
Gabriel Agbonlahor's 15th-minute goal separated the two teams at the final whistle to give Villa a much-welcomed first league win in six outings.
"I thought we deserved it - I thought we could have run out more comfortable winners. We should have at least had three or four, the chances we had," he said.
"Coming up here was always going to be tough because of Sunderland's situation, but I felt the Swansea (1-1 draw on the weekend) game gave us a platform to try to build.
"But we are a football club that can't carry big injuries to big players, and I think it was evident today, the two lads coming back gave us a major lift."
