Steven Gerrard believes Sunday’s clash against West Ham will provide Aston Villa with a good measure of their progress.

Gerrard has lifted Villa after an underwhelming start to the season and the sacking of Dean Smith as manager in November.

Villa sat ninth in the Premier League on Thursday night after recording their third successive win with a 3-0 triumph at Leeds.

With the team having scored nine goals without reply in that sequence, they now travel to the London Stadium this weekend high in confidence.

With David Moyes’ Hammers having been among the challengers at the top end of the table for the past two seasons, Gerrard feels it will be a good test.

The Villa manager said: “David and his coaching staff play are all doing a fantastic job for West Ham.

“(On Thursday) they were competing in Europe, which is a long-term goal for ourselves.

“We need to admire what they’re doing and respect what they’re doing, but it’s a fantastic opportunity for us as well to go and show where we’re at, really take the challenge on and go toe-to-toe with a good team.”

The trip is the start of a difficult spell for Villa with games against Arsenal, Wolves, Tottenham and Liverpool – all sides above them – in the coming weeks.

Gerrard, the former Liverpool and England captain, said: “I already know it’s going to be tough, every game in this league is tough.

“Just take each challenge as it comes and really be excited and ambitious, really look forward to the challenges coming our way.

“This league is littered with good teams, good players and good coaches. Nothing changes from fixture to fixture and every game is tough.”