In-form Aston Villa are urged to relish top dogs challenge

Tomorrow’s trip to West Ham is the first of five straight fixtures against teams above Villa in the table and though Gerrard claims to already know exactly where his outfit stands in comparison to their opponents, the run will provide a clear indication of their progress.

Three straight wins have seen Villa jump up to ninth in the standings and Gerrard has stressed to his players the need to keep their feet on the ground.

He said: “Every game in the league is tough. We just need to take each as it comes, be excited, ambitious and really look forward to the challenges coming our way.

“This league is littered with good teams and good coaches. Nothing really changes from fixture to fixture, every game is tough.”

Gerrard refused to disclose Villa’s aim for the remaining 11 matches, quipping: “We have our internal targets but I’m not telling you. If I don’t reach them, you will say I’ve failed!”

Were Villa to beat the sixth-placed Hammers, it would put them back on the fringes of the race for European football. Tracking down eighth-placed Wolves appears a more realistic target, albeit still tough, while there remains a chance of exceeding the points total claimed by Dean Smith’s team last season (55) in addition to securing the club’s first top-half finish for more than a decade.

“We want to aim as high as we can,” said Gerrard. “Thursday’s win at Leeds has put us in the top half of the league.

“But the challenges only get tougher and tougher. We want to try and stay in this place and take as many points as we can. But the idea is to give us a really good platform going into a really important pre-season.”

While Villa were cruising to victory at Elland Road, West Ham were losing narrowly to Sevilla in the Europa League. The Hammers currently occupy the position craved by Villa and several other clubs eager to begin mixing it with the so-called big six.

“We need to admire what they are doing and respect what they are doing,” said Gerrard. “But Sunday is a fantastic opportunity for us to go and show where we are at.

“It will be tough because David Moyes has created a really tough side to play against, a really effective team. I know how his teams set up from the challenges we had against Everton back in the day.

“They were always well drilled and really honest in how they went about their work. I have managed to meet David around the game a few times and he is a really humble guy. I’ve nothing but admiration for the job he has done.

“It is going to be a right tough challenge for us and that is the reason it is important we reset and stay calm because every game in this league is hard.

“If there is one thing I can give you as feedback since I have been in this league it is that.”