Aston Villa hero Dwight Yorke has blasted the players after the sacking of manager Steven Gerrard.

The former striker, who spent nine years at Villa before joining Manchester United in 1998, believes that the weekend victory over Brentford proves that the squad "threw him under the bus". The side won 4-0 at home under caretaker manager Aaron Danks.

"You wonder why you get into management in the first place when these things happen," Yorke told Lord Ping. "The players literally threw him under the bus. I think that's really what that is. There's no other way.

"If you're looking from the outside, the same players, the same team, the same personnel, they're playing against a team in Brentford that are doing quite well and Villa gave them a hiding.

"Gerrard would have been wondering where that performance was for him. I think the players let him down.

"I don't know the ins and outs of the dressing room at Villa Park, but that's what it appears like looking at the club from a distance."