Aston Villa had too much quality for Walsall at the Bescot Stadium

Gabriel Agbonlahor scored twice to give his side a 2-0 lead at the break.

Second-half substitute Luke Moore grabbed a brace of his own, while Peter Whittingham cracked in a 25-yard drive to add further gloss to the scoreline.

But the result did not prevent Villa's fans from calling for chairman Doug Ellis to resign.

Chants of "We want Ellis out" were heard regularly throughout the match at the Bescot Stadium from the 3,000 Villa fans.

But caretaker boss Roy Aitken said the players had put recent events to one side and concentrated on the match.

"I asked the boys to give me a response, and they gave me a good quality performance," said Aitken.

I told the players to be professional and concentrate on the job in hand Aston Villa caretaker boss Roy Aitken

"They're a great group to work with, and in being in charge at the moment it was pleasing they gave me that kind of display, as well as for themselves, the club and the fans.

"But after what has happened over the past week, we needed that, and their attitude was first class.

"I told the players to be professional and concentrate on the job in hand, and clearly it didn't affect the players because you only have to look at the performance.

"The fans are going to be vocal anyway, and that's up to them. But they also got behind the team because they were cheering the boys."

Aitken admitted he would like to take the job full-time, but said it was out of his hands.

"At the end of the day it's a great job and a great club with a fantastic history," he said.

"The job doesn't faze me at all because I've been there and done it and I know what it's all about.