Head coach Dean Smith held his pre-match press conference on Saturday morning to preview Aston Villa’s trip to Fulham.
Villa head to Craven Cottage on Monday (ko 5.45pm) looking to extend a three-match winning start to their 2020/21 season.
Speaking to media via Zoom call, here’s what Dean had to say…
On injury news…
“The only ones who won’t be available are Bjorn Engels, Tom Heaton and Wesley.
“Ezri Konsa, everyone told me he had a bit of a hamstring strain at half-time (on Monday), it wasn’t, it was a strain in his glutes.
“But he was fine and he’s back training today (Saturday).
“Apart from that, everybody is good.”
On facing Fulham…
“It will be another big task.
“I thought they played very well against Leeds United. They went 4-1 down and made a sterling job of coming back and nearly got back into it in the end.
“They’re after their first points of the season.
“We know what it’s like coming up after play-off success, you have a short time to actually celebrate getting up and getting the team ready for the start of the season.
“Scott (Parker) will be looking at our game, I think, and eying it as an opportunity to get three points.
“It will be a difficult place to go, as always, but we feel we’re in decent form at the moment and very tough to beat.”
On midweek victory and three unbeaten…
“It is (feeling positive) but it’s only early stages, we’ve only had one Premier League game and a couple of Carabao Cup games.
“We’ve started well and what Thursday night gave me was certainly a lot of food for thought.
“The players who hadn’t played in the first Premier League game all performed really well and showed me they're pushing for places in the Premier League.
“The players who started against Sheffield United know they’re going to have to be on their toes to keep their shirts.”
On Bertrand Traore…
“He’s trained really well, he looks fit.
“The French season curtailed early last year, obviously.
“His team, Lyon, were in the Champions League so he’s been training pretty regular. His fitness levels were really good and he certainly made a good start.”
On Keinan Davis…
“When we started back (Project Restart) he started in the team against Sheffield United and started four or five of the last 10 games.
“The only thing missing from his performances was a goal.
“But he got his goal against Burton and his performance on Thursday night against Bristol City for an hour was outstanding.
“If he plays like that then he’ll be a threat against any team.”
On the transfer window…
“We’re always looking in the market, we’re probably one short in the squad at the moment so we’ll keep looking at that.
“Things change very quickly in football.
“I think there’s seven days left until the window shuts internationally, another seven days domestically.
“Our sporting director at the moment has got his finger on the pulse, hopefully we might get one more in and maybe a couple more out.
“There’s a number of positions, obviously Ally (Samatta) going out, you look at the forward line, but also midfield as well.
“We’ll see if there’s one who can fit both for us.”
