Dean Smith joined the media via video call on Wednesday as Aston Villa prepare to face Manchester United at Villa Park.
Villa will take on Ole Gunnar Solksjaer’s in-form side on Thursday (kick-off: 8:15pm).
This is what the boss had to say ahead of a big night…
On squad fitness…
“Everybody has come through okay.
“Tyrone [Mings] took a whack on the calf against Liverpool and Jack [Grealish] had tight calves, but they both came through training yesterday.”
On performance…
“Our form in terms of performance levels have been much better but we haven’t got the points tally that we feel we deserve.
“There are points that we have left out there and the only way we can put that right is in the last five games.
“We have to maintain our standards defensively and better them if possible.
“If we do that, we’re in the game and we have to make sure that we turn on our quality in the final third.”
On Manchester United…
“We got a point at Old Trafford, took a lead thanks to a great goal from Jack and we more than matched them on the day.
“We have to do that again, they’re in a better run of form now but there is a lot of desire within the team.”
On Douglas Luiz…
“Douglas has been excellent for all five games.
“People don’t realise that he walked in two days before we played Tottenham [on the opening day of the season], so he had a limited amount of time.
“Lockdown enabled him to get his fitness to the levels that we require, and we have seen a much-improved Douglas Luiz.”
On the belief in the squad…
“They [Manchester United] are a very good team, they have improved but there is a lot of heart that we can take from our performance against Liverpool.
“We have to do the same against a team that are full of confidence.
“The belief is there because the players know that they have played well enough to win games.”
