Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard: My stomach was doing somersaults

Gerrard, appointed Dean Smith’s successor last week, met Villa’s staff and non-international players for the first time at Bodymoor Heath on Monday.

With the majority of Villa’s first-team players yet to return from international duty, the new head coach will have a limited time to work with his full squad ahead of Saturday’s visit of Brighton to Villa Park.

In his first interview with the club’s in-house media, Gerrard revealed he first became of Villa’s interest last Wednesday, with his switch from Scottish champions Rangers completed within the space of 24 hours.

“I wanted this to happen very quickly because the opportunity is too big,” he said. “I am very hungry and ambitious and the start can’t come quickly enough.

“I have been excited since Wednesday. My stomach has been turning over, doing somersaults. The excitement levels are very high.

“That is priority and what everyone should focus on – the Brighton game. We have very little time to prepare.

“Thankfully we have players in Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we can get a head start with. It is a game we want to go into being aggressive.”

Gerrard has been identified by Villa’s hierarchy as the man capable of taking them on the “next phase” of their plan to crack the Premier League’s elite.

But first they need wins to ease the mounting threat of a relegation battle Villa, who lost five straight matches prior to Smith’s sacking, sitting just two points clear of the bottom three.

Gerrard paid tribute to his predecessor and acknowledged he has “a tough act to follow”. He also insisted Villa have his full focus following inevitable speculation over his long-term ambitions of managing Liverpool, the club he made 700 appearances for as a player.

Villa visit Anfield on December 11 and when asked about the “noise” which will surround that fixture, Gerrard replied: "I can't control the noise. That's not important. What is important is the chance to go to Anfield and win, which is the attitude we will have going into every game.

“I want to win every game I play in and now my priority, my focus and everything I will give on a daily basis will be for Aston Villa. One thing I can guarantee the players, the staff and all the supporters is when I commit to something, I am all-in."