Steven Gerrard ‘extremely proud’ of Aston Villa players following Liverpool defeat

Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard says he is ‘extremely proud’ of his players despite them being on the wrong end of a 2-1 scoreline to Liverpool on Tuesday night.

Douglas Luiz gave the Villans an early lead after just three minutes but goals from Joel Matip and Sadio Mane turned the game on its head and left Gerrard’s men with nothing to show for their efforts.

Unlike the Tottenham Hotspur game a few weeks ago, though, Villa were always in this one and Gerrard believes that in itself is a huge positive for his side.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, the former Liverpool captain was clearly upbeat despite the loss.

“In terms of commitment and heart and application of what the lads gave me tonight I can’t ask for anymore,” he explained.

“At times we showed amazing quality as well, I’m really happy with what we created against one of the best teams that are out there.

“Obviously disappointed with the two goals we’ve conceded. We’ll look into that.

“Against one of the top sides in this league, we’ve been done on moments so we’ve got to cut them out moving forward.

“But in terms of what we brought to the game, out of possession, in possession, in terms of what the boys have give me, the gameplan that we tried, I can’t ask for anymore so I’m extremely proud of them.

“Of course there’s a gap to these top teams at the moment but we need to strive and keep moving forward to try and close that gap because we’re competing against some of the players and the best team in the world.”

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