Sherwood frustrated by Villa's slow start

Aston Villa manager Tim Sherwood felt his side contributed to their own downfall in the 3-2 defeat at Liverpool on Saturday, having conceded after 66 seconds.

James Milner's goal - the quickest in the Premier League this season - was followed by a Daniel Sturridge brace, with Rudy Gestede twice restoring Villa hopes with goals in the second half.

It made for an entertaining affair at Anfield but Sherwood and Villa continue to await a first league win since the opening weekend.

Sherwood saw shades of their recent 3-2 reversal at Leicester City in Saturday's performances and was clear in his frustrations.

"We've worked all week to try and quieten the fans and the first thing I said when leaving the dressing room was to make sure we stay in the game as long as we can," the Villa boss said.

"We didn't get tight enough in that area of the field and James Milner has scored a good goal.

"I felt at half-time it was time to change and step forward a little bit into them - when Jordan Veretout came on we passed a lot better and delivered good crosses for Rudy to score.

"I've always said we'll score goals but when you come to Anfield and score two goals you expect to take something from the game and we haven't done that.

"We scored twice at Leicester as well and didn't take anything so that's the major disappointment.

"We deserve to have more points on the board but we have to take it on the chin and look to the next game - we are very disappointed but we have to move forward to Stoke."

Gestede came in for Gabriel Agbonlahor while Idrissa Gueye featured for the first time since August following injury - with the pair proving Sherwood's main plus points.

"The positives are Idrissa Gueye has come through 90 minutes and he looks fine - a little tired but fine - and Rudy Gestede has another two goals," he added.

"People questioned whether [Gestede] would score goals in the Premier League and I think he's answered that already - he'll score at any level because he's such a threat.

"I'm just a bit disappointed we weren't good enough on the ball in the first period. The goals, and the timing of the goals, have killed us."