Danks leads Villa out of the darkness with 4-0 Brentford thrashing

BIRMINGHAM, England: Caretaker boss Aaron Danks got off to a flying start with Aston Villa when they put their poor start to the Premier League season behind them with a rip-roaring 4-0 win over Brentford in his first game in charge on Saturday.

Danks, who replaced Steven Gerrard following his sacking on Thursday in the wake of a 3-0 defeat to Fulham, saw his side score three times in the opening 14 minutes as they blew away Brentford, along with the memory of their slow start.

"I thought the boys, from the opening five minutes, they played with intensity and sustained that. I am really, really pleased with the game and performance," a delighted Danks told the BBC.

"Going into the game, you always have a bit of nerves and apprehension, but the moment I was on the touchline I was just focused on the performance. To see the fans and players at the end it was a nice feeling."

The game was just over a minute old when Villa went in front through Leon Bailey, and there was a little extra satisfaction in the manner of the goal for the coach, who worked as assistant to Vincent Kompany at Anderlecht before joining Villa.

"It was a really well-worked set-piece off the training ground for the first goal, so credit to the staff for that and the players for executing it," Danks explained.

After a turbulent week at the club, his side's performance was markedly different from their often sluggish efforts under Gerrard, but Danks would not be drawn on his own future.

"I have been asked to lead the team at the moment, and will continue to do that and will step forward Monday morning to prepare the team as we go, and until I hear otherwise it is full focus and energy on that," he said.