Stoke too cool for Smith’s wife

ASTON VILLA boss Dean Smith has revealed how his missus became the ‘spy’ who came in from the cold.

Smith took wife Nicola with him to run the rule over Stoke last week and ended up getting a frosty reaction.

Stoke visit Villa Park today with Mrs Smith not overly impressed with her mission to The Potteries.

Smith said: “I took my wife up to Stoke for their match against Ipswich. It wasn’t a classic game to say the least.

“We don’t get the opportunity to do that very often so I just said, ‘Do you fancy coming up to Stoke?’

“It was cold and miserable and the game didn’t warm us up much, I’ve got to say! She didn’t even get the chance to see any of The Potteries either because it was so dark.”

Stoke’s 2-0 win stretched their unbeaten run to eight games and saw them in sight of the play-off spots after a dreadful start to the season.

Villa are also on a hot streak with four wins in a six-match unbeaten streak, but Smith cannot help thinking it could have been a far better return. They had two points snatched from them when Jay Rodriguez bundled a late equaliser in with his hand in the 2-2 draw at West Brom.

Smith said: “We should have beaten Forest in that 5-5 draw, so in my head I’m thinking we should have had six wins out of six.

“Everybody saw what happened against West Brom and will know we should have had three points there, but I have to just try and put that out of my mind and be happy with what we got from a tough run of games.”

Smith will be without star midfielder Jack Grealish who has a shin injury and that looks like handing Glenn Whelan (left) the chance to play against his former club.

The Villa boss reckons the no-frills Republic of Ireland star does not get anywhere near the credit he deserves.

Smith added: “He’s always been a player’s player. You ask those he plays alongside and they love him.

“Some supporters don’t see the work he does. I’ll say one thing, we’re thankful that he’s with us.

“Glenn is a good footballer who understands the game tactically and he’s a really good passer of the ball too.”