Aston Villa boss Smith remains grounded by walking his dog

DEAN SMITH has revealed his secret to escaping the pressure cooker of the Premier League: his dog Charlie. Smith takes his cocker spaniel for daily walks as a release from the intensity of managing in the top flight.

Aston Villa return tonight to West Ham, the scene of last season’s great escape where they survived a relegation dogfight on the final day.

“I actually hold regular talks with the League Managers Association (LMA) and say to every manager now ‘get yourself a dog’, because waking up every morning and taking the dog out gives you that time,” he said.

“I get that head space to think about what I’m going to do in the day and how I’m going to do it. It works for me.”

Smith has claimed that Villa have a far better squad now than the one which narrowly avoided dropping into the Championship.

“You have to be in the Premier League for a few years before you can grow that squad into being experienced top players in the Premier League.”

Smith will have to plan without Ross Barkley, who will be out for three weeks with a hamstring injury, for the visit of West Ham who are just a point behind Villa in the table with a game in hand.

Flying

Meanwhile, Harvey Barnes admits he is revelling in Leicester’s flying start to the season.

The 22-year-old winger has helped propel the Foxes into the Premier League’s top four, ahead of tonight’s visit of Fulham.

He has struck four times, having also made his England debut against Wales in October, and Barnes is enjoying life under boss Brendan Rodgers.

“I’ve really enjoyed playing, we’ve played some great football and some really good attacking bits,” he said.

“Of course, I’ve been happy, but I want to keep adding to that and keep adding more goals and assists to my game.

“I’ve definitely been happy, but I’m still looking to improve on that. It’s fun to go out and play. You know, going out onto the pitch, that there’s going to be opportunities – we’re going to play good football.

“We know it’s going to be a tough game on Monday. At home, it’s going to be down to us to take the game to them.

“You’ve seen they’ve had a tough start to the season, so they’re going to be desperate to get a result against us. For us, it’s going to be in our own hands to go and create that, and take that attacking game to them to go and score the goals.”

Tonight’s game is likely to come too soon for Leicester’s injured trio Ricardo Pereira, Caglar Soyuncu and Wilfred Ndidi, who all hope to be available for action next weekend. Leicester City v Fulham, Live Sky Sports, 5.30; West Ham v Aston

Villa, Live Sky Sports, 8.0.