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Cold from Steven Gerrard as Villa boss addresses how he’ll handle Liverpool return

Steven Gerrard insists his only focus will be on getting a positive result with Aston Villa as he prepares to make his first return to Anfield as a manager.

The recently-appointed Villa boss returns to his spiritual ‘home’ on Saturday in a Premier League match that captures the imagination. He will arrive back on Merseyside with Villa in good form following Sunday’s 2-1 win over Leicester. And he’ll be also hoping to spoil the party as title chasers Liverpool look to claim a win in pursuit of leaders Manchester City.

Having spent 17 years as a Liverpool player, Gerrard won the Champions League, two FA Cups, three League Cups and the UEFA Cup.

He will undoubtedly be given the warmest of returns from the Anfield faithful – and rightly so.

Gerrard, though, insists he will cast all his emotions to one side.

He said: “That’s for me to deal with in terms of emotions and all that. It’s very much about the team. For me, it’s about preparing the players in the best possible way to get a result at Anfield.

“I certainly won’t make it about me. If other people do I can’t control that. It’s about us going there full of confidence and belief that we can go and take something from the game.”

Ezri Konsa’s double earned Gerrard a third win in four games as Villa boss as his side came from behind to beat the Foxes. That win sees Villa rise to 10th in the Premier League.

Harvey Barnes opened the scoring for the Foxes. But Konsa then became the first Villa defender to score a Premier League brace since Ciaran Clark’s double against Arsenal 11 years ago.

Steven Gerrard happy with Villa points return

Jacob Ramsey’s first-half goal was also disallowed after it was ruled that Kasper Schmeichel was in control of the ball just before the midfielder kicked it out from under his hand.

“I would have taken that before a ball was kicked, to take nine points from 12 is a fantastic start. It’s a great return from the players,” said Gerrard.

“It’s really positive from what the players have produced. We have a week on the training ground to try to help the with a few issues we have got.

“We go to Anfield and we’ll try to make it as difficult as we can for the opposition.”

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