Steven Gerrard spoke to the media on Friday morning as he gave his pre-match press conference to preview Aston Villa’s Premier League encounter against Leicester City.
The head coach provided a team news update, reflected on the current league table, the club’s form, Saturday’s test against the Foxes and much more.
Here’s what he had to say…
On team news...
“Bertrand Traore came out of training yesterday with a groin complaint, so he’ll be out of the game.
“We’ll probably do an MRI scan on that today, but the doctor has ruled Bertrand out which is disappointing.
“Kortney Hause is not available again and Morgan Sanson is not available.
“Lucas Digne is actually out doing a lot of work kicking balls and doing a lot of 1v1 work, but he’s obviously had surgery on his collarbone and he can’t be around contact for quite some time.
“There’s a small outside chance that he might make the last couple of games of the season but it’s too early to put a date or a game on that.
“But I’m hoping and, knowing Lucas, he’ll want to make himself available for the last few games of the season, which will be a nice boost for us because he’s so important to how we play.”
On the table...
“We’re well aware of how the table looks, we’ve fallen down a few places and it’s been quite frustrating not to have a game to put that right.
“Obviously tomorrow we do, so that’s a really good opportunity for us to try and get a positive result so the table looks different.
“But it has been stop-start in terms of how the fixtures have been for us – international breaks, Covid and with Liverpool progressing in the cup competition, it’s made us not able to play for two weeks.
“So we’ve got a couple of games in hand and if we manage to get positive results then the table will look very different.
“But we’re aware of our form and we’re aware of how the table looks.”
On Villa’s form…
“We’ve spoken about it before, we’ve made mistakes within games, we’ve had moments that have gone against us and we’ve been punished heavily from that.
“In terms of the performance, I said after the Tottenham game, for the first 45 minutes and pockets of the second half, that’s probably the best we’ve played.
“But where we are right now, I’d certainly prefer a positive result rather than a performance.
“So however we do it in the coming games, there are opportunities for us to grab points and I’m sure the mood, the table and how everyone’s feeling will be completely different.
“That’s the way the Premier League is. A lot of teams have gone on these pockets where you win games on the spin and then your form changes.
“But, for me, the focus is very much on Aston Villa. If we win tomorrow, which we’re quite capable of doing, the table looks completely different after 90 minutes.”
On Leicester reverse fixture…
“It was very pleasing to win the game.
“Leicester came (to Villa Park) full of talented players; I’ve spoken many times about my respect for Brendan (Rodgers) as a coach.
“I really admire how he has his teams playing, I’ve obviously experienced that myself.
“The buzz and the high after the game was very much about the three points and how we went about it.
“To go a goal down, the character that the players showed, we scored a couple of set-piece goals, we also had another one ruled out which I thought was quite harsh.
“But I thought we played some really good stuff on the night and against a very difficult opponent.”
On summer transfer window…
“I understand behind the scenes there’s a lot of talk, a lot of rumours, a lot of speculation about the summer.
“I think that’s normal and it will be happening at a majority of clubs.
“And I totally appreciate and respect the fact that’s happening here.
“We’ve got good owners, owners who are ambitious; we’re aligned from top to bottom, I’ve said it before.
“And there are conversations, there is work behind the scenes, a lot of people are working ever so hard to identify people who are going to help the group moving forward.
“I’m not going to lie or say those things aren’t happening.
“But we’ve got seven games left, seven really important games, and my priority is the players who are in the building, they’ve got my full support.
“They only have to listen to me on a daily basis. There’s been no summer talk on a daily basis, no talking about potential targets; that is not for anyone else to discuss except myself, Christian (Purslow), Johan (Lange) and the scouting boys.
“We move forward with the main focus and that is Leicester City tomorrow.”
On Leicester…
“They’re a good team.
“I think it will be interesting what team they decide to pick because they’ve changed a lot in terms of personnel going from game to Europe, they’ve obviously got a very busy fixture schedule.
“I think it was eight changes, then five, then seven… they’ve got an important game on Thursday, they’re on the back of a game on Wednesday night.
“But, for me, the preparation has been about Aston Villa.
“The last two weeks has given us an opportunity to work on some things and continue some things that we’ve been doing ever so well.
“For me, the priority is how we perform on the day.
“But we’re playing against a team full of talented players who can be really dangerous when they’re playing well.
“But also a team who, like ourselves, have been a little bit inconsistent of late.
“So it’s a good game, it will be a fascinating game and one we’re looking forward to.”