Steve Gerrard: Goals will flow for Aston Villa's Danny Ings

Ings is set to face former club Southampton on Saturday for the first time since moving to the Midlands last summer in a deal worth £30million.

The 29-year-old, who netted 46 goals in three seasons on the south coast, has scored only four times in his first 20 appearances for Villa and just once since October, a run which ranks among the worst of his career.

But Gerrard has been content with his all-round performances and believes it is only a matter of time before he starts to hit the target on a more consistent basis.

He said: “By people on the outside, strikers are judged just on goals. But we judge players on a lot of things around their main skill set and Danny is doing fine.

“Everything we have asked him to do, he is doing. It will only be a matter of time before the goals come.

“There are two sides to that. As a team we have to serve Danny, create the right chances for both him or Ollie (Watkins), or whether it be Leon (Bailey) up there or Bertrand (Traore), now he’s back fit.

“Danny is a goalscorer. I am sure in his own mind he is thinking about goals. That is natural.

“But as his manager I am happy with what he is giving and I believe it is only a matter of time, if we keep creating chances, that he will get goals.”

Gerrard, who expressed delight at Traore’s return to fitness following a season hampered by injury, also reiterated his belief Ings and Ollie Watkins can form an effective partnership up front.

The boss opted to pair them together at Brighton last weekend, with Watkins going on to net only the fourth goal either has scored in matches where they have both been in the starting XI.

Gerrard said: “A lot of people have doubts with them being on the pitch at the same time. I don’t, I believe in them.

“I backed them last week and they both performed ever so well.

“Ollie naturally got more headlines than Danny but the big thing for me is the team – that’s the most important thing. It could be different moving forward. It might be Danny that gets the headlines, I’m not really interested in that.

“I’m more interested whether they doing the job we’re asking for the team,’ and last week they both certainly did.”

He continued: "They made it clear they get on really well on and off the pitch and they enjoying playing together. It was more about me making it clear I am open to that partnership to gel and work and grow.

"We won't pick that partnership every single game because maybe that game won't require it. We certainly can't judge it if one scores and one doesn't, that he is playing better than the other.

"That is not necessarily the case. The important thing is they both contribute to the team winning games."