Premier League: Liverpool defence delights Jordan Henderson after win at Aston Villa

Jordan Henderson saluted Liverpool's defiance at the back in shutting out Aston Villa in Saturday's 2-0 win.

Villa improved after a dismal first half and despite the lively Christian Benteke and impressive new signing Carles Gil creating several chances for the hosts, the Reds stood firm to secure a third successive away league win and close on the top four places.

"I thought we were fantastic at times with the ball and could have scored a few more," Henderson told Sky Sports News HQ.

"The most important thing for me was the way we defended. We were resilient throughout the game." 

It was a solid performance by Brendan Rodgers' men and one that was produced without the injured Steven Gerrard, Daniel Sturridge and Adam Lallana.

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Gerrard may be on his way out at the end of the season to the United States, but Henderson insists the main concern is the remaining four months of the campaign.

"Stevie has still got a big part to play for us this season," the England midfielder added. "We’ve got the likes of him, Daniel (Sturridge) and Adam (Lallana) to come back.

"They’re big players for us as a team so hopefully they can make a big contribution between now and the end of the season when they come back."

Liverpool face Chelsea on Tuesday night, a game being shown live on Sky Sports 1, in the first leg of the Capital One Cup semi-final and the prospect of going up against the league leaders is not causing too much panic in the Anfield dressing room. 

"They’re a fantastic team with some fantastic players but we’ve been on a good run of late," Henderson said. "We’ve got good confidence in the team and we’re a top team as well with some great players so it will be a big night at Anfield and hopefully we can put another performance in."

Liverpool keeper Simon Mignolet added: "It’s going to be a very exciting game to look forward to in the semi-finals of the League Cup. We want to do well and we want to go to the final so we’ll prepare ourselves for that.

"It’s what you want to do as a football player [go to Wembley]. You want to play big games. We’ll do our best to get to the next round which is the final and obviously everyone wants to play in that but there’s no point in thinking too far ahead."

Watch Liverpool v Chelsea in the Capital One Cup on Tuesday, Sky Sports 1, from 7pm