McGinn struck twice as Villa won today's early kickoff 3-1 to go second on the Premier League table.
He said at the final whistle: "It was important. It was a poor result the other night (at Arsenal). We wanted to show a reaction, maybe the start of another 11-game winning run we don't know."
On his goal celebration, McGinn also said: "A wee joke in the dressing room. I don't know how much I can say about it. There is a reason behind it and it was hinting at the manager talking about us going step by step so it was a wee nod towards that.
"The manager wanted me to be more intense and get in the box and thankfully I did that.
"I just take each day as it comes and hope we get the three points."
On what Unai Emery expects, he added: "The manager pushes us a lot and says I should be scoring a lot more goals. Thankfully I managed to get two goals today so hopefully he'll get off my back a bit! I saw the keeper out so I managed to get it round him and into the goal."
"We're building something special here, breaking more records and becoming more complete as a team. Hopefully we can continue this run. Villa Park is a fortress at the moment. Exciting time to be a Villa player and a Villa supporter. We just keep riding that wave."