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Under-pressure Gerrard calls for magic from his stars
Steven Gerrard called on his Aston Villa players to show more “moments of magic” after another blunt display in a 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest.
Villa needed a spectacular strike from 37-year-old Ashley Young to take a point from second-bottom Forest, who took the lead through Emmanuel Dennis’ header.
Though the Villans were dominant in possession for much of the proceedings, their wealth of attacking talent could only muster two shots on target between them over 90 minutes.
While it means they are now four games unbeaten, the result and performance has left the Villa boss feeling the pressure, with sections of the away support reportedly turning on him at full-time.
Gerrard said: “I think we were the better team and we created the better out of the two teams in terms of opportunities.
“I still think we need to create more in the final third, I still think we lacked a bit of quality, moments of magic, outside Ashley Young’s fantastic strike. We need to demand more from the players.
“I don’t want to sit here and talk about four games unbeaten, because it’s not enough, the last two performances we need to be taking maximum points.
“There is a lot of frustration there. I have challenged the forward players to give us more in that area of the pitch.
“We just need more quality from some of our big hitters. When we get that and when they step forward with more for us I am sure we can turn these draws into wins.
“Tonight was an incredible opportunity for us to really jump up the league and we haven’t grabbed it.
“Once we get that from the big players I am sure we are going to move up the league. Hopefully players can get into better form. If not I am going to have to change things, whether that is personnel or system.
“Right now, I am thinking about the weekend and there could be changes in the team. So it could be pretty quick.”
Diaz out until after the World Cup
Liverpool will be without forward Luis Diaz until after the World Cup after he suffered a knee injury in Sunday’s 3-2 defeat at Arsenal.
The Colombia international, 25, left the Emirates on crutches at the weekend and a scan has revealed he is set to be sidelined until December.
Jurgen Klopp’s Reds have 10 matches to play before the domestic season breaks for the tournament in Qatar on November 13.
The German is still awaiting news on England right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold’s fitness after his half-time withdrawal, with the German boss revealing post-match that it did not “look good for both”.
Liverpool travel to Rangers in the Champions League on Wednesday night before hosting Premier League champions Manchester City on Sunday as they look to arrest their poor start to the campaign.
