Jubilant Villa striker John Carew hopes the thrashing of Bolton has put the smile back on fans’ faces, declaring: ‘Now we’ve set the benchmark’.

Holte End hero Carew was man of the match in Saturday’s 5-1 hammering of the Trotters, scoring one and playing a part in three of the other four goals.

It was Villa’s first Premier League win in four attempts, moving them up to fifth, and Carew insists they now have to maintain those standards in their attempts to break into the top four. The Norway striker said: “I hope we put a smile on the fans’ faces. We played very well, won convincingly, scored lots of goals and that was very important.

“It was a convincing win and you have to enjoy the moment and this is how we should be playing at home, controlling games.

“The way we played is the standard we should be setting. We managed to play football and that was a step forward for the team from the last two or three games.”

It was Carew’s third goal of the campaign but, after two in his last three games, the ex-Lyon and Roma man is confident he has rediscovered his golden touch. He said: “There’s no need to be ashamed. I feel there will be more goals coming from me. Every season, it takes a while to get going.ÊThe main thing is to keep performing and the chances will come.”