STEVEN Gerrard insisted he felt Aston Villa could have won by “five, six or seven” if it weren’t for former England teammate and Saints goalkeeper Fraser Forster.

The giant stopper made a number of crucial saves to keep Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side in the game during the first-half, as well as keeping the scores down in the second.

Forster denied all of Phillipe Coutinho, Danny Ings and Ollie Watkins throughout the 90 minutes – despite going on to lose 4-0 to the Villans.

“We could have took our chances today. It could have been five, six or seven today,” the Villa boss said.

“We were really creative today. We were really good, Fraser Forster has pulled off two or three top saves as well. It could have been bigger, without Fraser it could have been five or six.”

Daily Echo: Saints goalkeeper Fraser Forster (Pic: Stuart Martin)Saints goalkeeper Fraser Forster (Pic: Stuart Martin)

Gerrard travelled to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil with the Three Lions, although Forster did not feature as the side crashed out at the group stage.

The former Liverpool captain also revealed why striker Ings, who Villa signed from Saints in the summer transfer window, deserves extra praise for his focus.

The 29-year-old netted Villa's fourth, after laying on two for his teammates.

“I thought Ollie (Watkins) and Danny (Ings) were sensational today,” added Gerrard.

“At the moment, Danny would be allowed to not be focused and not in the right place as his missus is on the verge of giving birth.

Daily Echo: Danny Ings scored and provided two assists (Pic: PA)Danny Ings scored and provided two assists (Pic: PA)

“But his focus in terms of being ‘all in’ and wanting to do the best for the team has been excellent.

“He was injured when we came in but now he’s in a good place physically and he did a lot of good things today.

“He set the first goal up, he gets his own goal and the job he does for the team in terms of securing the ball is really important for us.”