Steven Gerrard: Pain of losing makes me more determined to succeed at Aston Villa

Villa head to Leicester today aiming to end a run of four straight defeats which ranks as comfortably the worst run of Gerrard’s managerial career.

It is a sequence of results the 41-year-old experienced only once during his celebrated playing career at Liverpool but he insists it is primarily a source of motivation as he looks to revive the fortunes of a team now sat in the Premier League’s bottom half.

Gerrard, who spent three-and-a-half years with Rangers before replacing Dean Smith as Villa boss in November, said: “I don’t like losing football matches. Our recent form and where we are sitting in the table is not sitting well with me.

“I have been at clubs where normally you are not in this position. But I’m even more determined to prove that I can work in these situations.

“It wasn’t always rosy at Liverpool. We went through some real tough spells that I had to lead from the front to change those feelings and where we were,

“At Rangers we suffered at times. We had some bumps and runs of form that didn’t sit well with the supporters and with myself.

“I had to lead and change that and I knew it was going to be no different at Aston Villa. I didn’t turn up here thinking all of a sudden we were just going to rise up and challenge the top four and the top six within five or six months.

“I knew it wouldn’t work overnight. But my attitude and my drive hasn’t changed to what I want to do and what I believe I can do here, in terms of leading the club where I want to lead it.”

Though Gerrard has continually referenced the importance of the summer in transforming Villa into a team capable of challenging in the top half, yesterday he threw the focus on this season’s remaining seven matches, insisting it was too soon to publicly discuss plans for the transfer window.

But when addressing comments made this week by Manchester United interim boss Ralf Rangnick, who claimed it may take six years before the Red Devils are in a position to challenge for the title, Gerrard claimed the fortunes can be changed quickly through good decision-making.

He said: “With the right recruitment, the right manager, a bit of patience and some time to build something, I think you can see things change extremely quickly.

“It wasn’t so long ago everyone was writing Arsenal off. Mikel Arteta? Change him. All of a sudden Mikel’s back in the top four, he’s won an FA Cup.

“As quick as things can go sour and bad, results in football can change and you can move very quickly and achieve stuff.

“It’s the same story here. I’m not going to be someone who says I need three, four, five, six years and all that because I understand it’s a pressure job.

“I understand it’s a results business, of course I do. But things don’t happen overnight either.

“With the right decisions and the right support over the next couple of months I believe we will be a different and better team when we attack next season. At the moment we have to prove we can be a good team now.”