'We didn't turn up for 70 minutes' Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard reacts to Wolves defeat
Steven Gerrard accused Villa of failing to turn up for the first 70 minutes of their 2-1 derby defeat at Wolves.
Jonny Otto’s early strike and Ashley Young’s own goal left Villa trailing 2-0 at the break with Ollie Watkins’ late penalty a mere consolation.
The defeat, Villa’s third on the spin, ended any realistic chance of overhauling their rivals during the run-in and Gerrard was left fuming with their first half performance.
He said: “It was a game we never turned up for, from the first whistle. We are playing against Wolves, a local rival, we tried to prepare in a way to give it a real derby feel.
“You can’t come to derbies at half-time. We were second best for the first 45 minutes and have gifted Wolves two goals.
“We actually started the game well, on the front foot. You could say the first goal was unfortunate where two players lose their footing. Then we had a major wobble for 10 minutes where it looked nothing like a Villa team. We then concede another poor goal.
“At half-time we put ourselves in a really difficult position, 2-0 down with a lot to do. Everything we asked of the players at half-time they gave me. We were much different in the second half. But you can’t give teams a two goal start.
“We could have snatched something at the end. We decided to have a war with Wolves in the 70th minute but it was 70 minutes too late.”
Slips from John McGinn and Ezri Konsa helped set up Jonny’s opener before Young, who replaced Lucas Digne in the 13th minute, headed Marcal’s cross into his own net.
Villa improved after the break, though Watkins missed two big chances before netting his penalty after being felled by goalkeeper Jose Sa. The latter then denied Matty Cash an equaliser at the death.
Gerrard said: “We have ourselves to blame for this result. At the moment we look like a 45-minute team and that is on me.
“I have to fix it and I will fix it. The players who are in the building now have to help me fix it for the final eight games. If not we will get players who will. We can’t keep giving sloppy goals away and gifts. Collectively, we have to fix it.”
