Steven Gerrard fears for new Aston Villa boy Diego Carlos

Goals from Danny Ings and Emi Buendia earned Villa a first victory of the season but Gerrard’s primary concern post-match was the welfare of centre-half Carlos, who was forced off in stoppage time after sustaining an injury to his left ankl;e.

The £26million summer signing from Sevilla later left Villa Park in on crutches and in a protective boot.

Gerrard said: “I’m extremely. We’re going to send him for an MRI scan but it doesn’t look good right now.

“I’m extremely happy with the win and the performance but, if we happen to lose someone who’s so important to us, that could tarnish the win.”

He continued: “I’m worried about it. It’s around the ankle, Achilles area.

“You can see by the player and the man that he’s not the type to go off easy. He looks concerned with it and the medical staff seem concerned and that’s the reason why I’m worried about it.”

Carlos had partnered the recalled Tyrone Mings in the heart of defence, the latter making a crucial intervention to beat Salomon Rondon to a loose ball after Villa keeper Emi Martinez had denied Anthony Gordon late on.

Mings’ omission for the opening day defeat at Bournemouth created no shortage of headlines.

But Gerrard said: “There hasn’t been much talk, focus or attention inside the building but I certainly understand when we make a decision like that, externally, there will be a lot of focus and a lot of noise.

“We can’t control that. I think it’s important for me again to repeat: ‘We think that Tyrone Mings is a fantastic footballer with a big attributes and he’s someone who’s going to be a big help to me and the team moving forward’.

“He hasn’t been stripped of his place in the team. He was injured last weekend and wasn’t fully fit so we decided to go a different way but, today and building into today’s game, he’s focused really well.

“I thought he was really good and dominant for large parts of the game today and he played his part in a really important win for us.”