Steven Gerrard insists he will park any emotions ahead of his return to Liverpool.
The new Aston Villa manager returns to Anfield on Saturday for the first time since leaving for Rangers in 2018.
He will arrive back on Merseyside with Villa in good form following Sunday’s 2-1 win over Leicester.
Gerrard spent 17 years in the first team at Anfield, winning the Champions League, two FA Cups, three League Cups and the UEFA Cup but promised he will not get caught up in the occasion.
He said: “That’s for me to deal with in terms of emotions and all that. It’s very much about the team and preparing the team in the best possible way to get a result at Anfield.
“I certainly won’t make it about me. If other people do I can’t control that. It’s about us going there full of confidence and belief that we can go and take something from the game.”
Ezri Konsa’s double earned Gerrard a third win in four games as Villa boss as his side came from behind to beat the Foxes and rise to 10th in the Premier League.
Harvey Barnes opened the scoring but Konsa became the first Villa defender to score a Premier League brace since Ciaran Clark’s double against Arsenal 11 years ago.
Jacob Ramsey’s first-half goal was also disallowed after it was ruled that Kasper Schmeichel was in control of the ball just before the midfielder kicked it out from under his hand.
“I would have taken that before a ball was kicked, to take nine points from 12 is a fantastic start and a great return from the players,” said Gerrard.
“It’s really positive from what the players have produced. We have a week on the training ground to try to help the with a few issues we have got.
“We go to Anfield and we’ll try to make it as difficult as we can for the opposition.”
Leicester were again undone by their inability to defend dead balls and midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall admitted they keep shooting themselves in the foot having conceded 10 goals from set-pieces this term.
“It is just little lapses of concentration in games that are hurting us at the moment. I thought, in the first half, we were really dominant, we pressed high and they struggled to get out,” the midfielder told LCFC TV.
“We had enough chances to go into half-time winning. It’s just set-pieces that are not helping us at the moment, and they’re the things that are punishing us.
“At this level, you get punished if you’re not concentrating and it’s something that we need to look back on and try to eradicate.”
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