Steven Gerrard spoke to the media on Friday afternoon as he gave his pre-match press conference ahead of Aston Villa’s Premier League game against Wolves.
The head coach offered a team news update, recognised the club’s international players, acknowledged the importance of the rivalry with Wolves and much more.
Here’s what he had to say…
On team news…
“Lucas Digne has come through 90 minutes for France, which is a big positive from the last time we had a squad to pick. We’re at full health.
“Marvelous Nakamba will play for the reserves tonight and he’ll play somewhere between 45 and 60 minutes, which is a big positive.
“Hopefully he can be back and have a full week leading into Tottenham and maybe be available to face them. It might be a bit too soon for him now because he hasn’t had any serious game time.
“Hopefully he comes through that, recovers well and then he can be back with the group. He’s been back training fully for ten, 12 days and he’s smiling, getting closer and closer.
“The rest are all healthy, in a good place and ready to go.”
On the club’s internationals…
“We’re very proud to see our players get called up and selected for their national teams. We’ve very proud when they go away and represent the club in a really good way.
“We have the majority coming back in a good place. Unfortunately, there’s only one, Robin Olsen, who’s taken a couple of days to get back to where we need him.
“He’s obviously disappointed from his side, but he played extremely well in both games. We had both games watched and covered.
“Everyone else has gone away and been part of wins, scoring goals, getting assists and qualification. Them coming back healthy is a huge bonus, and the level of training has been full of confidence and full of quality. Hopefully we can take that into tomorrow’s game.”
On Villa’s away form…
“We’re a team that wants to go everywhere and win games; we want to be positive and bold. The message will be clear tomorrow: we’re going to try and get the win that we want and that we need.
“Picking the bones out of it and analysing the group, there have been times away from home when we haven’t won where us being a bit grittier or having a bit more experience about us, we could have taken at least a point away.
“That was the case in the last away game. The second half was a big improvement on the first and if we’d been a bit more clinical or creative in the final third, we might have taken a point out of that game.”
On playing Wolves…
“I’m looking for a reaction and a better level of performance over the 90 minutes. Wolves have been terrific this season.
“They’re well coached, they’re well organised, they’re always in games and they’ve got big talents throughout the squad. They’re above us in the league, we’ve got a game in hand and an opportunity to claw some points back, so it’s a big game for us.
“It’s always a game with a rivalry, and it’s very interesting for both sides. I’m really looking forward to the kick-off.”
