Steven Gerrard: Ageless Ashley Young most important Aston Villa signing

The boss believes 37-year-old, who has played at right-back in place of the injured Matty Cash, has galvanised team-mates during a three-match unbeaten run.

Gerrard convinced Young, who returned to Villa following a decade at Manchester United and Inter Milan, to sign up for another year in the summer.

The boss said: “Ashley’s turning out to be the most important signing we’ve done. His performances have been above and beyond.

“He’s the one who has driven us to turn this corner and given us a small platform for us to build from.

“He’s epitomised everything we needed to do and get back to: Standing up, rolling your sleeves up, being professional, getting back to basics, training well, doing the basics well, communicating on the pitch, driving other people to be better.

“I think Ashley has helped me drive people into better form. We’ve got more people now closer to where we need them. If we can get two or three more, we’ll be all right. I’m confident of that.”

Cash is now recovered from a hamstring injury and will return for Monday’s trip to Nottingham Forest, with Young likely to switch to left-back where Gerrard is without both Lucas Digne and Ludwig Augustinsson.

Gerrard said: “The biggest person who deserves credit is him. At his age to still drive standards the way he does, has been very impressive.

“He’s been impeccable since day one. Even when he’s not playing, he still plays his part and his role. Don’t under-estimate the role he has played since I’ve been in the building, he’s been fantastic.”