Jürgen discusses Villa clash, Reds youngsters and Benteke's form

On Benteke’s form...

I can do a lot of things but at the end, like always, it is not only about Christian. The last and most important help comes from the player himself. I saw really good signs at West Ham. In not the easiest part of his career, he really fought and having this number of opportunities is a good sign. If he had no opportunities then it would be a much bigger problem. Of course it is not too easy, that's how it is. I’ve talked to him a few times and gave him some advice as a human being and a coach, he's really trying to come back in the easy moment but that's all there is to say about this. It's more interesting if nobody else scores often enough, that's the situation. There are worse situations in the world of football so we have to carry on and he has to carry on.

On Benteke returning to face his former club...

I have not the best experiences with players coming back to former clubs. Usually they make more pressure and you want to show extra. I don't know exactly about the history of Christian and Aston Villa, whether they will welcome him open arms or with whistles, but that's not too interesting - that's not an issue for me to make decisions on. It's professional football and it's one game going to your former club. We will see which line-up we will choose for Aston Villa but it will not be because of personal histories with this club. 

On how the Reds’ young players impressed against West Ham...

It was a perfect moment and opportunity for us to leave them from the ledge, let us show how strong our faith is in them and let them show how good they are. It was a great joy to watch these boys. We can speak about all the stories behind these guys. If you think about Kevin Stewart and his situation a few weeks ago, games like this for him were perfect. I think it is really hard to get the smile off his face in this moment… OK with the pain in his foot, it is maybe more easy! The same for Pedro Chirivella, it was a great performance. I think it is the biggest honour you can get in a game like this when after 20 minutes Mr [Mark] Noble's job is to look after you. That's a really good thing. Brad Smith with his speed will always be in situations like he was in the game. Brad has a little injury from the game. First we thought it was cramp but it's a little bit more. It was a high-intensity game for full-backs, he came through but afterwards he had some problems. We then see Tiago Ilori; when I came here he was at Aston Villa, then after time I got more information about all the players on loan and then I saw him. You heard about the problems and how he didn't play at Aston Villa. You get him here and then you see the potential, so that's good. Really good. They all have to learn and they all have to improve - they gave the sign but now that is one sign. Always in life it is about consistency so they have to go on and accept the situation. It's really important they see the positive situation [and] that they make the next step to train, train, train and be available more often.

On Aston Villa...

You can say they have nothing to lose anymore but they have to win the games and take the risks. Of course, it's not a coincidence that we are in ninth place and they are in this place [20th]. You have to avoid a few things and you have to use a few things, that's how it is. That's how you prepare for a game, and of course it is not our thing to think about Aston's Villa's targets for this game. We have to be strong and have our own targets. We have to do everything to reach them. It's always difficult at Aston Villa but don't forget it's difficult for Aston Villa to win against us if we are good. That's the first thing we have to show and if we show this then we can win.