Aston Villa fans have received a promise from Philippe Coutinho that he and the rest of Steven Gerrard's team will "work even harder" to turn around the team's troubling start to the upcoming Premier League season.

At the Vitality Stadium on Saturday, Villa lost to Bournemouth 2-0 despite Gerrard's team failing to put a glove on the newly promoted team once. The hosts took an early lead thanks to Jefferson Lerma in the first three minutes, and Kieffer Moore doubled their advantage in the 80th.

Gerrard's team was unable to generate any scoring opportunities as Bournemouth held their opponents to just two shots on goal throughout the entire contest. And Coutinho acknowledges that Villa's disappointing season opener on the south coast was far from ideal.

Coutinho wrote on Instagram: “It wasn’t the way we wanted to start, we’ll work even harder for next week to be more than ready.”

Villa host Everton on Saturday as Gerrard’s men aim to get back to winning ways in the Premier League. They have only won two of their last 12 league matches and face a tough run of fixtures in the coming weeks, including matches against West Ham, Arsenal and Manchester City.

The Toffees have been handed a double injury setback ahead of the clash with Villa as Yerray Mina and Ben Godfrey are set to miss out. However, Wolves captain Conor Coady could join Everton in time for their trip to the West Midlands.