Aston Villa v Brentford report: Villa sparkle for stand-in boss | Football
Aston Villa 4-0 Brentford
Aaron Danks watched Aston Villa fly out of the blocks in their first game since Steven Gerrard’s sacking and insisted he is happy to prolong the ‘rollercoaster’ for as long as he can.
Danks was handed the caretaker reins at Villa Park after Gerrard was fired on Thursday night and enjoyed the dream start as his side romped to a 4-0 win against hapless Brentford.
They were three up in 14 minutes thanks to goals from Leon Bailey and Danny Ings (two) – as many goals as they managed in their last six games under Gerrard – with Ollie Watkins finishing the job after the break.
Assistant coach Danks, 37, got the call to take over in the early hours of Friday morning and is happy to keep going for as long as he is asked.
‘It has been a rollercoaster of a few days but my full focus was just on today’s game,’ he said.
‘I have been asked to step forward and lead the team, we will keep doing that until we are told otherwise.
‘Until that point we just keep thinking forwards and moving forwards.’
Birmingham-born Danks admitted to enjoying an enthralling 90 minutes. ‘As a local lad, I know the area well, I know the supporters well,’ he added.
‘It has been nice, I have been really close to the players for a while now, I thought they pulled together well, we played with energy and purpose like I asked them to.
‘I was really pleased for the players, staff and the crowd, who supported us brilliantly.’ Villa were in front in 63 seconds as a well-worked corner routine saw Douglas Luiz tee up Bailey, whose low shot found the bottom corner.
Six minutes later, Ings doubled the lead, converting Bailey’s low cross for his first league goal since August.
Villa’s pressure was incessant and they made it 3-0 in the 14th minute after Kristoffer Ajer pulled down Tyrone Mings in the box at a corner. Ings converted the spot-kick.
On 59 minutes, Watkins made it 4-0 at the third attempt. Bailey played him in and David Raya twice saved superbly before the former Bee netted from close range to leave his old club stung.
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news onFacebook, Twitter and Instagram.
MORE : Tony Cascarino sends warning to Chelsea and Manchester United over Cristiano Ronaldo transfer
Follow Metro on Snapchat
You can follow our new Snapchat show Pop Cultur’d, the go-to place for all things pop culture.
Keep up with the latest Showbiz exclusives by following Metro Showbiz on Snapchat.
And football fans can indulge in all the transfer gossip and more on Metro Football on Snapchat.
