Smith looking to Elphick to cover his back

DEAN Smith will consider recalling Tommy Elphick from his loan at Hull next month and is also targeting a move for Brentford centre-back Yoann Barbet.

The manager admitted his rearguard needs to be strengthened.

When asked about a possible return for Elphick, he said: “Yes, it’s a possibility, but he’s playing football until January, so I won’t say anything on that until then.”

The Birmingham Post understands a conversation has already been had with Elphick and a January return is on the cards.

Villa are also keen on Barbet, the 25-year-old French defender who Smith managed at Brentford.

Lovre Kalinic was signed from Gent last week to strengthen the goalkeeping department and Smith now wants to bolster his backline after seeing Axel Tuanzebe ruled out for ‘several weeks’ with a foot injury.

“We always knew we were light in the defensive area,” he said. “Unfortunately Axel has got injured, so we put James Bree in at centre-half today.

“He’s played 30-odd games at Championship level, so we’ve got enough defenders, but we also know it’s something in January we want to deal with.

“We’re starting to get players back but defensively we lack a bit of cover.”