FA Cup 3rd Round preview: Everything Steven Gerrard had to say about Aston Villa’s trip to Manchester United

Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard understands that a lot of the attention will be on him as he enters Old Trafford on Monday evening but emphasised that his focus is fully on that of getting Villa through to round four of the FA Cup.

Gerrard meets old foes Manchester United for the first time as a manager and whilst he admits it’s a game he wants to win due to his own personal ambition he says it’s all about his team now.

“Full focus on the team,” Gerrard explained.

“Certainly nothing on me from a personal point of view from previous rivalries although yes I’m ambitious and I want to go there and try and win the game.

“First and foremost though, for Aston Villa and the players.

“It was a tough draw, there’s no getting away from it.

“The third round draw, to get Manchester United away was tough but we have to accept that and we’ve prepared well this week and we’ll go there and do our best and try and get a positive result.

“We have to go there with belief and be positive and give a good account of ourselves.

“Only our best performance will get the job done.”

The former Liverpool captain understands the prestige of the competition having won the trophy himself in both 2001 and 2006 and noted numerous times throughout his presser just how serious they will be taking the game.

“The game has to be decided on the night so we don’t benefit from not being positive,” said Gerrard.

“We don’t benefit from thinking about the ‘what if’s’, it’s clear we have to go there and be ambitious.

“We have to go there and be at our best or really close to our best to give us a chance.

“An under-performance or one where the players lack belief or quality won’t be good enough, I’m sure.”

Aston Villa have already won once at Old Trafford this year under former manager Dean Smith.

But both clubs now have new men at the helm and it’s bound to be a completely different fixture on Monday evening.

With that said, United have struggled of late and it could be a perfect opportunity for the claret and blue to register two wins at the Theatre of Dreams in the same season.

Though, like most cup competitions, Gerrard believes form is irrelevant going into this one.

“We don’t get involved in what’s going on at Manchester United,” he added.

“I’ve been involved a big clubs, and when you don’t get that one result that the media and the supporters think you should get, then suddenly there’s a crisis in place.

“I don’t get involved in all of that, the focus and preparation is all about Villa. The only advantage will have, is that after this, we’ll be at home against United for the second game.

“We need to have full 100% focus on this challenge in front of us.”

The scouser had time to joke about the less than warm welcome he expects to receive when he makes his way down the touchline at Old Trafford too but claims he’s survived it before and he’ll survive it again.

“I’m really looking forward to the game. Yes, I won’t get the welcome that I would like but that’s not important.

“I’ve had it before and I’m still here, I still survived that welcome.

“It will be a really interesting and fascinating game from a personal point of view but for me it’s more important about how the team performs rather than myself.”

A message from the editor:

Thank you for reading. BirminghamWorld is Birmingham’s latest news website, championing everything that is great about our city - reporting on news, lifestyle and sport. We want to start a community among our readers, so please follow us on Facebook,Twitter and Instagram and keep the conversation going.