SMITH HAPPY VILLA BOSSES HAVE HIS BACK
DEAN SMITH insists he retains the backing of Aston Villa’s hierarchy despite their losing run – and says his misfiring stars are “determined” to end their slump.
Villa’s ambitious billionaire owners spent £95m in the summer after selling Jack Grealish but their side is just three points above the drop zone.
They visit Southampton tonight after four Premier League defeats in a row.
It has left many Villa fans restless and super-agent Jorge Mendes is monitoring the situation as he wants to bring ex-roma coach Paulo Fonseca to the UK. But
Smith’s belief has not been rocked and he pointed out even Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool lost four league games in a row last term when they were the defending champions.
He said: “The conversations I have daily with our director of football (Johan Lange) and our chief executive (Christian Purslow) have never wavered. All teams will have struggles. Jurgen Klopp last year lost four games on the spin.
“But if you have the belief and consistency and a group of players who, most importantly, have the character and personality to believe as well, you turn it around. The mood has been determined.”
Smith took the drastic call of dropping his captain and England international Tyrone Mings for the 4-1 defeat against West Ham.
But he is set to return tonight after coming off the bench following the dismissal of Ezri Konsa, who is now banned.
Asked about Mings’ reaction to being axed, Smith said: “He took it as the person he is and he’ll be looking to get his form back on track.”
Meanwhile, Ralph Hasenhuttl says Southampton can be a lesson to Villa in how to recover from losing your best player.
Smith’s side poached Danny Ings from Saints in the summer but are still struggling to replace the void left by Grealish.
And Saint boss Hasenhuttl said: “We proved we can win games and can move forward as a club.
“You should never be addicted to one player. When your game is hanging on one player then you have a problem.”