Palace are now unbeaten in our last six encounters with Villa, following the impressive 3-0 victory at Villa Park.
Villa had not lost at home in the Premier League for over a year, but couldn't find a way past Dean Henderson, on the rare occasions they managed to get past the Eagles' backline, with Richards and his fellow defenders outstanding.
"We know whatever ground we go into, we want to win," Richards told Palace TV. "We don't really try to look too much at records, or at least I'm happy that we were able to break that streak [Villa's unbeaten run at home]
"But not just that, I think it's a great mark to go into the international window with that win.
"Our main focus is to keep clean sheets because it gives the guys up front a better chance of doing what they need to do. But it's a collective from top to bottom.
"As much as I'd like to take... as much as us defenders like to take the credit for it, it definitely starts from top of the team."