Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard believes his players are buying into the game plan he has laid down this season.

The Midlands giants were 16th when Gerrard took over from Dean Smith in November.

A win over Liverpool on Tuesday would put Villa into the top-half of the table, and Gerrard is pleased with how his side is progressing.

"I think the main positive is that the players are really happy and they have bought into our identity and our style," Gerrard told Sky Sports. "We have had a lot of success in a lot of games from how we set up and I think we are getting the best out of a lot of people.

"We still see a lot of areas where we can get better and improve. We've had patches of games where we've been very inconsistent. But I think that's down to individual moments or individual errors rather than how we set up or how we play.

"I feel the players are on board with the things we are trying to put in place and we are feeling more comfortable game by game."