Steven Gerrard said Aston Villa gave their supporters a performance to be proud of in Saturday’s 2-0 victory against Brighton & Hove Albion.
After two straight defeats, the head coach had called for a big performance and win in his pre-match press conference.
And his players delivered both at the Amex Stadium, deservedly taking all three points via Matty Cash and Ollie Watkins goals.
He said: “I thought the effort that the team and the substitutes gave was fantastic.
“I spoke to the players before the game and said we’ve always got to have purpose; it doesn’t matter where we are.
“The most important purpose is the supporters. I thought they were terrific today and we gave them a performance to be proud of.”
Gerrard restored Watkins to the starting XI after starting him on the bench last weekend, and the striker repaid him with an industrious display and a well-taken goal.
“Strikers are confidence players and they love to score,” Gerrard said.
“I tried to take the pressure off him last week by taking him out of the firing line because there was a lot of noise around us and around Ollie.
“It was important to reset him.”
Having picked up three points on their travels, the Villa head coach quickly turned his attention to rectifying his team’s form at Villa Park when Southampton visit next weekend.
He said: “It’s about resetting after every result – win, lose or draw – and focussing on the next one.
“The players have been outstanding this week, recovering from a tough defeat against Watford.
“The performance was there against Watford, but the last bit of our play wasn’t.
“We need to build on this positive win. We’ve got Southampton at home and we need to improve our home form.
“If everyone applies themselves like they did today, it gives us a better chance.”
