Tim Sherwood: Villa must take the blame

Manager Tim Sherwood claims the whole club must take responsibility after Villa were thrashed 6-1 at Southampton -but their Premier League safety is now assured.

Sadio Mane scored the fastest hat-trick in Premier League history and Shane Long bagged a brace, as Villa conceded five in the first-half.

Graziano Pelle completed the rout late on after Christian Benteke had pulled one back. Sherwood simply branded the first-half performance as "not good enough."

He said: "Credit to Southampton, they punished every mistake we made. We made quite a few as a group.

"I'm not just talking about defenders, midfielders, attackers, coaching staff, everyone who was involved at this football club has to take responsibility and we do.

"It wasn't good enough. We feel very sorry for our travelling fans who stuck with us right until the end and Aston Villa fans around the country and around the world.

"Since I've been in the club those are the only 45 minutes I can complain about. We have to not get too carried away and put it behind us."

Mane's treble put the Saint three up after just 16 minutes and Sherwood said of his players: "I think they were stunned. They were shocked but they are professionals.

"They have to go out there and do it again. It's all about trying to get some pride out of the game. It's all that's left then.

"In a professional football match you don't come back from that. It's just about trying to get some pride in the second period.

"I think we did that but it's a small consolation to be quite honest."

Despite the defeat, Villa's Premier League safety was confirmed by Hull's 2-0 defeat at Tottenham.