Steven Gerrard explained he chose a strong Aston Villa side against Bolton Wanderers to show respect to the club's supporters and illustrate how serious they are about the Carabao Cup after their success over the Whites.
The Whites took a deserved lead in the first half when Dion Charles slotted home from inside the box for his first goal of the season. Douglas Luiz equalised before the break straight from a corner.
The Villans went ahead from the penalty spot when, despite suggestions of offside, Danny Ings won a penalty at the expense of Joel Dixon. He picked himself up to slot home from the spot.
READ MORE: Bolton Wanderers boss Ian Evatt on Aston Villa loss, 'offside' goal, six changes made & defence
The Villans added a third through Lucas Digne, before Leon Bailey capped off the win with a fourth towards the end. It meant the League One side exited the competition despite a spirited and encouraging performance in a 4-1 loss and bowed out at the second round stage.
Gerrard named a strong side that would not have looked out of place for a Premier League fixture. It was littered with quality and first team regulars such as Ings, Digne, Ollie Watkins, Philippe Coutinho, Tyrone Mings, Ollie Watkins and John McGinn.
Though the Villa boss showed Wanderers respect, he explained the strong team he put out was more to show respect to the travelling supporters as some 5,000 turned up to support the Premier League side. Gerrard was happy with the reaction his side showed to come from a goal down to secure a place in the third round.
He said: "I showed our fans the respect, rather than Bolton. My focus was Aston Villa coming into this tie. We were drawn against Bolton, the cameras decided to come here so you've always got to respect your opponents and the environment.
"But I wanted to respect the supporters because they've travelled in their thousands. They were extremely motivated and behind the team tonight so I wanted to show that with the team I put out and how serious we're taking this competition.
"With all due respects, we knew we'd have big moments to go and execute in the second half and we took them. We should have took more, we've had chances with Ramsey, McGinn and Cam Archer at the end - we could have been more emphatic but to win 4-1 having gone a goal down, it was a good reaction and good character."
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