Villans should use Terry’s
Aston Villa manager Dean Smith believes assistant head coach John Terry’s own League Cup triumphs will serve as a spur to his players as they aim to pull off a shock success.
Terry lifted the trophy on three occasions during his time with Chelsea, with Smith revealing he took his son to watch the Blues’ last victory in 2015 when they beat Tottenham 2-0.
Five years on and Terry will be on the touchline with Smith for the Carabao Cup final against Manchester City, as the duo aim to end the two-year reign of Pep Guardiola’s side.
“I’ve used John as a pointer to the players very often in this competition, and how much it meant to him to lift a trophy,” said Smith.
“People can belittle the League Cup as being below the FA Cup, but you try and take one of those off John Terry and he’ll tell you quite markedly what he believes. He openly talks about the need to go and win trophies and finals.
“Winning the play-off final last season has given us that appetite for more, that’s why we’ve probably been frustrated by our league position. This is our opportunity to realise those ambitions of winning trophies.
“Over a 15-year career, the players will get 45 opportunities to win something. They got a promotion last year and a medal for that, this time they can get a domestic final winners’ medal. Opportunities like that don’t come along very often.”
Villa go into the game as heavy underdogs as a run of three successive league defeats has them fighting to avoid an immediate return to the