Steven Gerrard: Aston Villa still keen to sign Philippe Coutinho

Coutinho was left out for the first time since joining on loan from Barcelona in January with his replacement, Emi Buendia, producing a man-of-the-match performance as Villa secured a second straight Premier League win.

Villa have the option to buy Coutinho for £33million at the end of the season, though the 29-year-old's salary could make pulling off a deal tough.

But while his recent performances have been disappointing, Gerrard is still keen to push ahead.

Asked if leaving Coutinho out at Turf Moor gave any clues as to his future, he replied: "Not at all. We want Phil Coutinho here, for sure."

Gerrard continued: “We've got five games in 16 days. I don't think it's fair to ask any of the players to play all of them. Emi's showed me that he's ready. He trained very well and I gave him an opportunity today and he took it. I'm delighted to have them both.

“They know that you can't go Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday all of the time. Phil understood it. He's played a lot and respected and understood that Emi deserves to play now and again as well - plus there's the option of playing them both as well.”

Buendia, the club’s £33million record signing, set up Danny Ings’ seventh minute opener before scoring his third goal of the season to double Villa’s advantage just past the hour mark.

Ollie Watkins then made it three early in the second half, with Maxwel Cornet getting a consolation for the hosts late on.

Gerrard said: “I thought it was a really strong away performance. With all due respect I thought we were better and stronger in every department.

“Obviously, it was slightly frustrating we didn't see it out and get that clean sheet because I thought our performance didn't deserve that but I won't let it spoil what was a fantastic performance across the board today. There were a lot of strong performances from the boys.”