Aston Villa latest news: Tyrone Mings is 'highly rated' by Steven Gerrard

Journalist Ryan Taylor has claimed that Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard likes what he has seen from Tyrone Mings since he took charge of the club back in November.

Gerrard has enjoyed a largely positive start to his tenure at Villa Park, and Mings, who has played 111 times for Villa, has been a key figure at the back during the 41-year-old’s time at the helm thus far.

After representing England at last year’s European Championships, Mings started the campaign slowly, and this led to him being dropped from the starting line-up by former boss Dean Smith against West Ham in October.

He quickly returned to the fold, though, and has been a mainstay at the heart of Villa’s defence under Gerrard.

According to WhoScored, he has been Villa’s eighth-best player this term, receiving an average match rating of 6.72, and he has won more aerial duels (50) than any of his teammates.

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The Premier League outfit added a defender to their ranks last month when they brought in Calum Chambers from Arsenal.

Taylor has acknowledged that some fans may be hoping for Gerrard to further bolster his backline in the summer, which could put Mings under pressure for his place in the team.

However, Taylor has hinted that he does not expect this to happen, due to Gerrard holding a high opinion of Mings.

He told GIVEMESPORT: “Tyrone Mings is rated highly by Gerrard, even though, to the outside fan, that’d probably be an area where they could probably upgrade.”

Mings seems to have had his doubters over the years, but he has often answered the critics in emphatic fashion.

At Euro 2020, he stepped in for Harry Maguire for England’s opening two group games, and the 16-cap