Steven Gerrard felt crucial penalty decisions went against his Aston Villa side as they fell to a 1-0 defeat against Liverpool at Anfield.
Villa displayed plenty of character and application as they repelled the Reds for the first hour of the Premier League encounter.
But a tussle between captain Tyrone Mings and Mohamed Salah saw a penalty awarded in the 67th minute, with the latter slotting home what turned out to be the only goal of the game.
The visitors had spot-kick appeals of their own turned away, to the frustration of head coach Gerrard, but he had plenty of praise for his players when looking back at his first five matches in charge.
Speaking to VillaTV post-match, he said: “We’re disappointed to lose the game, that’s normal.
“I thought we did a really good containing job on Liverpool for large parts of the game.
“We feel it was really harsh to concede the penalty, we believe it was a foul on Tyrone Mings.
“We also believe the officials should have looked at the Danny Ings incident for longer and the Ollie Watkins one when Trent (Alexander-Arnold) put two hands on his back.
“So, feels a bit harsh, but there was certainly a level between the teams from box to box.
“Liverpool, at times, overpowered us, showed a different level, a level that we need to strive to get to.
“But, in terms of over the five games and the big picture, the players have given me everything.”
It was only a second loss in five matches under Gerrard, coming after a similar narrow reverse to Manchester City and three victories.
Villa will now be looking to bounce back immediately, with a midweek trip to Norwich City on the horizon.
“It’s my job to pick the players up, pick myself up and we’ll try and bounce back on Tuesday night,” added Gerrard.
“It’s an important game, it’s a game away from home, but I’m confident and I believe in this group that we can go there and get a strong result.”
You can watch Steven’s full interview below…
