Boss blasts the critics who have given him a battering
DEAN Smith has hit back at the critics who are slamming Villa’s survival chances and insisted: “When we play poorly and get battered, then I’ll say we’ve got a problem.”
Villa have picked up just two points during Project Restart, with the 1-0 defeat to Wolves stretching their winless run to eight matches.
It has left Smith’s strugglers staring down the barrel of relegation ahead of daunting fixtures against champions Liverpool, on Sunday, and Manchester United, next Thursday.
“The lads are standing up to everything and, defensively, we have been really good in the four games and there are a lot of points to play for,” insisted the head coach.
“These lads will keep battling away. When we play poorly and get battered, then I’ll say we’ve got a problem. “The thoughts were on the first four games, we planned for each game and they have gone how I expected them to go.
“Unfortunately, we haven’t got the results we probably deserved.
“I felt we should have beaten Newcastle and Sheffield United and have a share of the points
(against
Wolves). We haven’t and what we won’t do is lose belief in what we’re doing.
“We have been extremely hard to beat for any team, that includes Chelsea. We’ll come out with a plan to try to beat the champions.”
On the fixtures ahead, Smith added: “There’s a challenge there all the time. Saturday was a challenge because Wolves are in as good a form as anyone.
“It was a big challenge and I thought we did well enough to get something out of a game which was average and scrappy, full of fatigued players.
“Liverpool will be a different game, they will have had a week’s rest and we’ll see how they play against Man City (Thursday).
“We’re going to a team 24-25 points ahead of Man City and it’s a tough game for anyone.”
The Villa players have been given some time off before preparations ramp up for the visit to Merseyside.
It will give the likes of John McGinn a much-needed break after the Scot played three games in a week before being benched against Wolves.
On the importance of rest for the midfielder, Smith explained: “It’s really important. “I’d have liked to have kept him in the team but John is trying to play catchup.
“He made 10 sprints against Sheffield United, seven against Chelsea and two against Newcastle.
“I just didn’t expect it to go up to 10 again, hence giving him a breather (against Wolves) and hoping he could make an impact from the bench.”
As pundits line up to question Villa’s survival prospects, captain Tyrone Mings has insisted that nobody on the pitch has stopped believing. England defender Mings is defiant in his belief that Villa can maintain their top-flight status amid a tricky run of fixtures, which also includes Arsenal and Everton.
“We have to believe and we have to get through this period, continue what we’ve been showing so far and give more,” Mings said. “We have a great belief in the dressing room, I don’t believe for any moment we’ll throw the towel in.
“The games are so tight, unfortunately we have come out the wrong side of it. We are working tirelessly to try to pick up the points we need. It’s a very tough division, but it’ll come if we stick together.
“We’re at the stage of the season where we need points and there wasn’t much between the teams on Saturday. To walk away with no points is hugely frustrating.
“We’re fully aware we need points. There’s still a huge amount of belief in the team.
“We don’t want to make any excuses about not having the fans as to why we’re not picking up points. Saturday was a very close game, we’ve adapted well.”