Steven Gerrard hails Aston Villa academy after local players propel club to win over Norwich

ByThe Editorial Team

Published 15/12/2021 at 09:10 GMT

Jacob Ramsey scored a spectacular opener at Carrow Road while substitute Carney Chukwuemeka provided an assist for Ollie Watkins' second as Aston Villa took home all three points from Carrow Road. Gerrard was full of praise for the academy that has helped Villa through a difficult period losing players to injury and Covid.

Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard praised the club's academy as local players helped Aston Villa to a 2-0 win over Norwich on Tuesday.

Jacob Ramsey scored a spectacular opener at Carrow Road, while substitute Carney Chukwuemeka assisted Ollie Watkins' second.

And Gerrard was quick to praise the youth set-up in a week where the club lost players to both injury and Covid.

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• Ramsey stars as Aston Villa ease past struggling Canaries
• Premier League table

"The plan was to try and finish the game early and try to find the second goal earlier," he said.

"At 1-0 you always run the risk [of conceding] so it was nice to see Ollie finish it off. The academy deserves a lot of credit. We've some top coaches and we need to keep developing it as we want as many local, homegrown players that we can have.

It has been a challenging week. We lost one to injury, a couple to Covid and some members of staff as well.

Reflecting on his first month at the club, which has included four wins and two losses and propelled Villa into the top half of the table, Gerrard insisted he was pleased with his side's progress and their performance on Tuesday.

Jacob Ramsey

Image credit: Getty Images

"It's been a positive start for me and we've started how we wanted to do and had some really tough games against (Manchester) City and Liverpool."

"The week has been challenging, losing staff and players and having to cancel the [training] session on Sunday, but I thought first half we were outstanding."

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