Steven Gerrard hopes Aston Villa win brings some happiness to Prince William

Gerrard had spoken before the match of his desire to give the Prince, a lifelong Villa supporter, a performance to be proud of.

And he later revealed how William had been in touch with the club during an emotional week for the Royal Family.

Gerrard said: “I think that shows what he thinks of this club and how much support he wants to give.

“For us to reward that with a result and a clean sheet I am sure he will be very proud.

“The messages were along the lines of ‘would love to be there’, but everyone understands his own personal situation.

“He is consistently in touch. He is very supportive of the boys individually. I have spoken to him about them all.

“It is really impressive, his knowledge. How much he is into it. It certainly took me back and surprised me, how much he is involved in Villa. For him to message the way he did was really impressive.

“I am sure he already knows the result, knowing him and how much he loves this club.”

Villa held a minute’s silence before the match before a rousing rendition of the national anthem. There was also a minute of applause in the 70th minute.

On the pitch, Jacob Ramsey bagged his first goal of the season to give Villa just their second win of the season.

Gerrard said: “Where we were before the game, in terms of the result and the league position, it was about the result and the outcome of the game.

“It wasn’t stylish or pretty. Tonight was all about resilience, guts, character and sticking together, really owning the pitch.

“That side of the game was really impressive. We know we can play better but tonight was all about the result.”