Aston Villa

Aston Villa

Premier League • England

‘We will look for the right players’; Gerrard relieved but scathing remark hints at Villa re-think

Steven Gerrard Aston Villa 2022 TEAMtalk41

Steven Gerrard felt not conceding was important as Aston Villa drew 0-0 with Leicester City before suggesting he will make sweeping changes this summer.

Villa had lost their last four games heading into the King Power Stadium clash. They conceded nine goals and scored just two during a run that saw them slip to 15th in the top-flight standings. The Villans had lost six of nine league games but managed to take a point from the East Midlands.

And gaining some reward for their efforts was enough for Gerrard to feel content after the match.

“A draw is enough to satisfy me because after four defeats it is important to stop that. Our performance today was very strong, very good,” he told Sky Sports. “We came to win but couldn’t quite do that. When you can’t, it is important not to lose so the clean sheet is huge.

“We’ve come up against a good team who are very technically gifted; over the 90 minutes we shaded the chances.”

And the former England ace believes being able to blank the opposition for the first time since March 10 was crucial.

“The clean sheet stands out,” added Gerrard. “Everyone was fighting we conceded four in the last game so we needed to reset and I’m sure our defenders and goalkeeper are very pleased with the outcome from that point of view.”

Gerrard targets new faces

Aston Villa’s winter recruitment left fans feeling confident they could push for a top-10 finish in 2021-2022. That now seems unlikely but the ex-Rangers chief has urged his charges to make it a strong end to the season.

“All in all, it is a positive point; we’ve given ourselves something to build upon next week,” he continued. “The target is to try and win as many games as we can.”

The likes of Philippe Coutinho and Lucas Digne arrived in January. But Gerrard hinted that he still needs many more to build the squad he desires.

Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard embracing Philippe Coutinho

“We’ll try and get as many points on the board as we can and try to finish in a position from which we can build,” he said. “Then we can look for the right players to try and have a strong pre-season.”

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