Smith optimistic he will get the Bright response
DEAN Smith has backed his downtrodden Villa troops to pick themselves up for a trio of crunch clashes that could define their survival bid.
Villa suffered their heaviest home defeat since February 2016 when they were torn apart by Premier League champions Manchester City on Sunday.
The 6-1 defeat, which Smith branded ‘chastening’ and ‘embarrassing,’ meant Villa slipped back into the bottom three after resurgent Watford won 3-0 at relegation rivals Bournemouth.
Villa travel to 14th-placed Brighton on Saturday before facing Watford and Bournemouth in a triple bill that needs to yield a decent sum of points for Smith’s team. The head coach said he would lift the players “as we always do” and tipped his injury-hit squad to turn in a much better showing at the AMEX Stadium.
“We debrief the game, we learn from it and we move forward,” he said. “We were very poor against Watford, got beat 3-0, but we learned from it and put in a really good performance against Burnley. “Against Man City we were coming up against top opposition. What we can learn is the way they pass and move, work as a team, press, it’s something for our players and myself to aspire to.”
Smith was forced to pick a team without a recognised striker for the second game running. Club-record signing Wesley, Jonathan Kodjia and Keinan Davis all missed the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg at Leicester as well as Sunday’s demolition against City. Smith would dearly love to bring in a striker before the trip to the south coast, for which Kodjia could be available, but will remain philosophical if the cavalry does not arrive.
“If we don’t then I have to cope with it. That’s the name of the game,” he said. “I know how hard the people above me are working to try and get players in and I know how hard this market is to work in. If we get one in, brilliant, if we don’t, we will cope.”
Danny Drinkwater, Smith’s first January transfer window signing, suffered a disastrous debut in claret and blue. The former Leicester midfielder, signed on loan for the rest of the season after Chelsea recalled him from Burnley, was partly at fault for two of City’s goals.
Smith defended his decision to start a player with only two games previously under his belt this season and whose last appearance was in a 4-1 home defeat to City more than a month ago.
“Danny needed it,” Smith said. “We’ve got injuries at the moment to three key players. Danny’s come in, he’s looked good in training and we’ve got 75 minutes out of him.
“He wasn’t the reason we got beat 6-1, that’s for sure. Danny will make us a better team.”