Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard has heaped praise on attacking midfielder Emi Buendia.
The summer signing from Norwich City has struggled to live up to his price tag all season.
Buendia was signed as a replacement for ex-talisman Jack Grealish, who departed for Manchester City in the summer.
The creative star has only two goals in 21 games for the club, but has impressed Gerrard.
"We've certainly seen that explosion. We believe he's had a fantastic month (in January). All the players needed time to adapt to us and the way we want to play," he said.
"The good thing for Emi is we believe this style, shape and what we're trying to do is tailormade for him and his own style. We feel it's a really good match.
"He's seen that early on and we've had real buy-in from him. He's a tenacious little character and player, he's got amazing talent and he's got stronger and stronger with each training session.
"He believes he can only get better, I have that type of belief in him.
"We are not comparing him to Jack Grealish, we're not looking back, we're only looking forward to support him and give him an environment and a culture to thrive in. We want to give him a style of play which brings out the best in him.
"It's about taking the excuses away from, not just him, but all the players. He has thrived in this environment since we came in. Emi deserves to be compared to only himself."Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard has heaped praise on attacking midfielder Emi Buendia.
The summer signing from Norwich City has struggled to live up to his price tag all season.
Buendia was signed as a replacement for ex-talisman Jack Grealish, who departed for Manchester City in the summer.
The creative star has only two goals in 21 games for the club, but has impressed Gerrard.
"We've certainly seen that explosion. We believe he's had a fantastic month (in January). All the players needed time to adapt to us and the way we want to play," he said.
"The good thing for Emi is we believe this style, shape and what we're trying to do is tailormade for him and his own style. We feel it's a really good match.
"He's seen that early on and we've had real buy-in from him. He's a tenacious little character and player, he's got amazing talent and he's got stronger and stronger with each training session.
"He believes he can only get better, I have that type of belief in him.
"We are not comparing him to Jack Grealish, we're not looking back, we're only looking forward to support him and give him an environment and a culture to thrive in. We want to give him a style of play which brings out the best in him.
"It's about taking the excuses away from, not just him, but all the players. He has thrived in this environment since we came in. Emi deserves to be compared to only himself."
