Steven Gerrard comes out fighting for his Aston Villa job on first appearance after trip to the pub

Steven Gerrard launched a stern defense of his Aston Villa tenure in his first media appearance after his trip to the pub amid viral claims he had been fired.

The struggling Midlands side are winless in three and are currently 16th in the Premier League, just one point from the relegation zone, despite signing Diego Carlos, Philippe Coutinho, Leander Dendoncker and Boubacar Kamara this summer.

And Gerrard, who will be boss of Villa Park for nearly a year, insisted he would not ‘hide’ or ‘pity himself’ as he fights for his job ahead of a crucial clash with promoted side Fulham at Craven Cottage on Thursday evening.

He said, ‘I will not feel sorry for myself. We will accept the outcome of the match because it is what it is… the outcome is obviously a defeat, but we will definitely take the positives.

“Yes I do (think we are better than when I started, in November 2021). I have total confidence and confidence and belief in myself and this group of players. It’s well documented that we’re missing big players right now.

“Many improvements we’ve tried to make in the last window are not available at this time to help us. I think we might have been healthier with that support, but they’re on the way back. I think that’s positive.

“Every coach and manager you talk to will always talk about time, but I’m not going to hide from anything. I also want to be judged in the now. I understand very well what situation we are in and how important it is to have a positive week.”

The under fire boss made headlines when he was pictured in a Liverpool pub, leading to suggestions on social media that he was drunk after being relieved of his duties.

The 42-year-old former England and Liverpool midfielder was rocking a baby in one photo and with his arms around two men in another.

But the Bowring Park pub denied suggestions that Gerrard drank heavily, instead tweeting that he was visiting briefly to see a relative and posed for photos with gamblers.

They wrote: ‘All those pictures going around of Steven Gerrard outside he was in our pub with his friends wasn’t there long at all I just called on his way passed to see a relative no drunken scenes or embarrassment just leave that guy enjoy a little normalcy!’

In further replies, the account said: ‘I thank him very professional took the time to talk to everyone, not least he showed what people said he was drunk and whatever this is 100% was not the case we would have been confirm this first.

‘I would understand if I said busy’ [sic] that he was harassed during a night out was really not the case. A few talked about Liverpool Aston Villa, his passion for both clubs and all of them was a quality man with a great attitude to the game.

‘Can confirm that he had nothing to do with the drugs’ [on] The property also had all the time in the world to photograph the child and talk about many different things, all that has been said is a lie, just catching up with his family and friends in a local nothing more.

“The photo of the child is our manager’s 6-week-old child who asked Stevie if he could take a photo of him with the baby.”

Villa have won just one of their last seven games and were beaten 2-0 at home to Chelsea on Sunday – their poor form comes as Villa denied reports that former Tottenham and Paris Saint-Germain boss Mauricio Pochettino was lining up as a potential replacement for Gerard .

Villa’s communications director Tommy Jordan took to Twitter Monday night to dismiss claims that Gerrard had already been fired by the club.

Jordan wrote, “How many times can you post complete lies before people stop following the account? Not sure why anyone is actually following this account. If you do, you shouldn’t.’

Villa will be in action on Thursday evening, when they leave for Fulham, before Brentford makes the journey to the West Midlands on Sunday.