Steven Gerrard felt Aston Villa’s defensive display was a big positive as they registered a clean sheet at Leicester City and insists it is a base to now build upon.
Villa registered their first shut-out since last month’s victory at Leeds United as they ended a run of four consecutive defeats with a goalless draw at King Power Stadium.
It was an organised display from Gerrard’s side as they restricted the Foxes to few efforts on goal, and provided the greater threat in the attacking third, Ollie Watkins and Leon Bailey going close.
“I thought the performance was okay, I thought it was good, certainly from an out-of-possession point of view,” Gerrard told VillaTV.
“We deserved our clean sheet, everyone across the board really gave a lot for that outcome and we haven’t had enough of these results during the season.
“If we could have had another four or five of these results, we’d be a lot higher in the table.
“We had the best chances across the game, I thought we looked really dangerous on the break.
“Ollie’s has had a couple of moments, couple of opportunities, Leon has, his first chance is obviously a big one. From set-plays we had some opportunities.
“I thought if anyone deserved to win the game it was us, but it’s vitally important if you can’t win then you take a clean sheet away and you take a positive point.
“All in all, I’m satisfied, but we came here to win.”
The draw moves Villa on to 37 points from their 32 games so far this term, with back-to-back matches against relegation-threatened Norwich City and Burnley next up.
And head coach Gerrard is keen to see his side maintain that defensive strength heading into those two big fixtures.
“The defensive performance was the big positive and the highlight, and obviously I thought Tim (Iroegbunam) coming on was a real positive," he added.
“I thought Ollie’s second-half performance, he was unplayable at times, gave us a real out-ball.
“And you need that against good sides, we’re playing against a side who are above us in the league, who are in a good place and have everyone back fit and available.
“We’ve taken four points from six from this team, that’s a positive and this gives us a base now to go into Norwich and Burnley away, two teams fighting for their lives down at the bottom.
“But if we can defend like we did here against those two teams, I believe we’ve got the quality to take maximum points from both games.
“We’ve got to go and execute that.”
