Dean Smith felt his Aston Villa side didn’t do enough in the final third to claim all three points against Brentford as they battled to a 1-1 draw.
Emi Buendía’s first goal for the club, a super curling strike from the edge of the penalty area, soon cancelled out Ivan Toney’s early opener for the visitors.
And that was the way it remained at Villa Park as both sides claimed a share of the spoils.
Speaking to VillaTV post-match, Villa head coach Smith said: “I thought we were the main aggressors in the second half, we didn’t do enough in the final third, if I’m honest, to win the game.
“I’m disappointed with the goal we conceded, we knew they were a threat from set-pieces.
“We’ve left Ivan Toney on the penalty spot free, but we showed good reactions to come back from that.
“Emi Buendía has scored a great goal for his first goal for the football club and we’ve had a big chance, but they’ve had a big chance with Rico Henry as well.
“I don’t think both keepers were worked enough, most of the game was probably played in the Brentford half of the pitch.
“But, as I say, we never created enough to probably win the game.”
Villa were without captain Tyrone Mings, Leon Bailey and Bertrand Traore, among others, due to injury, with fit-again Ollie Watkins stepping off the bench late on against the Bees.
John McGinn and Jacob Ramsey are also currently following government guidelines with regards to Covid-19.
Talented teenager Carney Chukwuemeka was handed his first Premier League start and Smith felt he did himself proud.
The Villa boss added: “Unfortunately, it’s been a bit of a mixed up week where that wasn’t the XI that was picked to go out and worked on yesterday, such is the world we’re living in at the moment.
“We had a couple of dropouts and I’m pleased for the boys who went in there. Carney got his full debut.
“It’s his first full appearance and he never let anybody down, that’s for sure.
“He is a calm lad anyway but I think he’ll be a real good player for us over time.
“He’s got that experience of his first start and he can build on that now.”
You can watch Dean’s full post-match interview below…
