Aston Villa chief Christian Purslow appears to be backing manager Steven Gerrard, according to Ashley Preece.

The Lowdown: Gerrard rumours

Villa haven’t had the best of starts to the season and have lacked quality in the final third with just four goals in their opening seven games.

That led to speculation regarding Gerrard’s future at the club, with reports suggesting that NSWE wouldn’t be afraid to pull the plug on his time in the Midlands, name-checking Mauricio Pochettino as a potential replacement.

A much-needed win over Southampton prior to the international break took the club into 15th place with seven points, and it looks as if Gerrard’s potion is safe for now.

The Latest: Preece’s comments

Talking to GiveMeSport, Preece said that he thinks Purslow is ‘backing’ Gerrard, who is ‘learning on the job’ in the Premier League at Villa Park, saying that could ‘frustrating’ for the Villa faithful.

“I think he’s got a strong relationship with the man that brought him to Villa Park, Christian Purslow. I think he’s backing him. He’s a rookie Premier League manager. He hasn’t been in the job a year yet, so he’s learning on the job. I know that’d be frustrating to hear for Villa fans. But that’s the realisation. He’s learning on the job. He’s admitted to making mistakes, this season and last season.”

[web_stories_embed url="https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/aston-villa-latest-news-2/" title="Aston Villa latest news!" poster="" width="360" height="600" align="none"]

The Verdict: Huge October

Rumoured target Pochettino is thought to be open to the idea of possibly replacing Gerrard, so it could be crucial for the Villa boss to have a solid start to October.

Villa have six Premier League fixtures next month, starting at Elland Road against Leeds, but they won’t be able to call upon Boubacar Kamara due to injury.

Kamara has suffered knee ligament damage while Lucas Digne has reportedly suffered a possible stress fracture to his ankle on international duty, potentially making Gerrard’s task even harder.