Saturday’s 1-0 loss to Arsenal was their 10th loss in 12 games against top-eight sides and the manager took issue with his side’s ‘passive’ performance in the first half.

Villa face further tests against Wolves, Tottenham and Liverpool after the international break and Gerrard wants to see a more positive attitude.

He said: “We have to respect that there is a gap at the moment and we need time. It’s a process before we can really rise to the challenge.

“But you have to want to catch it. I believe we can grasp some of these positions above us. Collectively, we must also believe.

With nine games to go, ninth place is realistically the highest Villa can finish after Bukayo Saka’s 30th-minute strike condemned them to a 15th Premier League defeat of the season.

Gerrard continued: “We need to see more collectively. We need to do more. We have to do 90 minute performances to start with, to give ourselves a better chance.

“You can’t wait to go behind against these teams. There have been too many occasions now, like City for example, or Liverpool where we concede a stupid penalty, Manchester United where we wait for a reaction.

“It’s almost like they (the players) are waiting for something to happen in the game or for me to come into them for that reaction to happen.

“We need to be more positive and have more conviction from the first whistle. This will give us a better chance of taking points from the teams above us.