Villa thrive on the pressure of a relegation battle, claims Smith
Dean Smith and his Aston Villa players are desperate to prove their doubters wrong as they attempt to climb out of the bottom three of the Premier League.
Villa ended their four-game losing run in the league with a vital 1-0 victory over Norwich City on Boxing Day and now face another important game for their survival hopes, at Watford today.
Smith insists he is enjoying the pressure of trying to lift Villa out of the bottom three and believes his players can relish the challenge, too. “I said to the players before the Norwich game that we’ve put a bit of added pressure on ourselves with the losing run,” said the Villa manager. “But these lads thrive under pressure and I, perversely, quite enjoy it.
“I’d rather be fourth and have that pressure, but being third bottom, let’s prove people wrong.”
In terms of the psychological impact of being in the bottom three, Smith said: “A lot was made about three games on the spin against teams below us – Southampton, Norwich and now Watford – but everything you get in this league you have to earn, whether it’s against Watford or Manchester City. So Watford will be tough to beat, but we want to become tough to beat ourselves.”
Villa have the Premier League’s worst away record with just four points, but Smith pointed to the fact that his team have faced most of the traditional top six on the road.
“If you go to those places and you’re leading or level, then there is pressure on them to put pressure on you,” he said.
Smith is hoping defender Tyrone Mings will return from injury for the New Year’s Day trip to Burnley.