Dean Smith joined the media via video call on Monday morning to look ahead to Aston Villa’s final home game of the season.
Three crucial points will be on the line when Villa face Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal on Tuesday night (kick-off: 8.15pm) at Villa Park.
Here is what the boss had to say…
On squad fitness…
“We have Kortney Hause back, he trained yesterday and he will train again today, but Neil Taylor is still struggling with his hamstring.
“Other than that, we’re okay.”
On Arsenal…
“Mikel said himself that they faced two of the best teams in Europe [last week].
“They have come out the other side of it with two wins and they have reached the FA Cup final.
“He is putting his own stamp on things, you can see the work ethic of the players.
“We have to concentrate fully on ourselves, it’s a very important game, we have to get a result in this game and the players know that.”
On belief and performance levels…
“We had a good win against Crystal Palace and followed it up with a good performance at Everton, where we should have won the game.
“They have to maintain the performance levels, work hard for eachother and if you do that, you get the rewards.
“We need to win, we know that.
“You’ll always have people that want to put you down at times, so the job is to prove people wrong.
“We believe that we have enough in the dressing room, and we have to prove that.”