Ashley Young has urged Aston Villa to “kill off” opponents after frustrated boss Steven Gerrard pledged to make changes this weekend.
Villa are 16th in the Premier League just three points off the drop zone after one win in seven games. They were held 1-1 at promoted strugglers Nottingham Forest where they only had two shots on target despite dominating possession.
Ex- Manchester United and England ace Young, 37, thumped in a brilliant equaliser from distance to cancel out Emmanuel Dennis’ early header. But Villa were unable to find a winner for the second successive game after being held at Leeds previously where the hosts were reduced to 10 men in the 48th minute.
Full-back Young rued: “It feels like a loss and is definitely two points dropped. There is a lot of frustration in the dressing room.
“I would have enjoyed the goal a lot more if we had gone on to win the game. We need that killer instinct to go and win the game. When we get chances we need to kill off teams and score more goals.”
Villa, who have scored just seven goals in the top-flight this term, return to action on Sunday when Chelsea visit. Under-pressure boss Gerrard is threatening changes after playing creative duo Emiliano Buendia and Philippe Coutinho off Ollie Watkins upfront.
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Brazilian ace Coutinho, who is yet to score or have an assist this term, was replaced on 65 minutes by Danny Ings. But Villa still lacked a cutting edge in the final third as pundit Roy Keane said the visitors’ attackers lacked courage to try things.
Gerrard responded: “I can certainly understand that opinion and we’re asking the players to be more courageous and brave because we need more as a team in the final third.
“We’re giving them more freedom and we don’t want to shoehorn them into one position. We want that movement and wanted to try to cause more problems. After this I’m thinking about the weekend and I’m thinking of changing the team.”
