Stephen Warnock praised Villa's defensive unit for withstanding Stoke's "relentless" aerial approach.

Warnock was thrilled the back four were "on top of their game" as they dealt brilliantly with Rory Delap's fiery long throw.

He told AVTV: "It was a hard fought point. You know it's going to be a difficult game at Stoke - the way they set themselves up and the way they play their football. We always knew it was going to be tough. We knew it was going to be a battle.

"In the last 10-15 minutes, everyone was saying 'let's keep a clean sheet now.' Obviously you've got to get the point and then hopefully nick something.

"When it's going at you for 90 minutes - the long ball and the long throw - it's relentless and it's tough to deal with.

"You've got to be on the top of your game all the time. Thankfully all the lads at the back did well.

"It's also the type of game where you've got to throw your body into it and hopefully you manage to get in the way. You throw yourself here, there and everywhere.

"But you know that's the way they are going to play - trying to pick up the second balls - and get chances. I thought the lads defended very well."

Despite not scoring, Warnock also praised Villa's desire to play football on a tough, blustery afternoon.

He continued: "We were the ones trying to play the football and get it down. We wanted to make something happen playing football rather than picking up second balls and throwing it into the box.

"I thought we did it quite well at times. There were times when we could have done it a little bit better but you have to try and cope with the conditions as well.

"I had a few chances to get forward too, the way the game was played, and thankfully I managed to get some crosses in. It didn't fall for us right in the box and it was unfortunate."

Warnock admitted Villa were hoping for a maximum haul against Stoke - making the clash at Wigan this week even more important.

He added: "It makes it a very important game for us. It was important anyway but we wanted three points at Stoke.

"It was a valuable point at the Britannia but now we want to go to Wigan now and get the right result, get the win and climb that league.

"Wigan are a good passing team, a good football team so hopefully that will suit us a little bit more and we'll get a good game.

"They played very well against Liverpool the other night. They are more than capable of beating teams. They have been unfortunate in some games they should have won, where they've conceded late on and not got the points.

"We know it's going to be a difficult game but we're more than capable of getting the right result."