John McGinn defends Steven Gerrard after Aston Villa lose to Arsenal

Aston Villa captain John McGinn has defended his manager Steven Gerrard after the club’s latest defeat at the hands of Arsenal on Wednesday night.

Arsenal news, exclusives and analysis

Arsenal took the lead in the first-half courtesy of the in-form Gabriel Jesus but Villa improved after the break with Douglas Luiz scoring directly a corner to level proceedings.

But the visitors joy was short lived with Gabriel Martinelli netting the winning goal just three minutes later to maintain Arsenal’s 100% start to the new season.

Meanwhile, Villa have now won just one of their opening five games of the season, with the pressure piling on Gerrard who is now one of the firm favourites in the Premier League sack race.

But McGinn believes that it is the players not the manager who deserve the blame for their poor performances, adding that Gerrard should be allowed more time to improve his side.

Speaking post-match, the midfielder said: ‘We were standoffish in the first half. Douglas scored a great goal and we were right back in it and then we make the same mistakes over and over again and we were punished.

‘It is about us as players taking responsibility and being more streetwise. We need to start getting results and we are all aware of it.

‘It would be a bigger problem if the effort wasn’t there. But we seem to be weak when we score a goal. It is something we need to improve if we are to take the club where we want to.

‘If you don’t perform you get criticism and you can either go into your shell and worry or you can puff your chest out and try to do something about it. It is not going to turn overnight.

‘It has nothing to do with the manager. Players are put out to do jobs and if we don’t perform those jobs it is our responsibility. Arsenal