Dean Smith spoke to the media on Friday morning ahead of Aston Villa’s Premier League game against Brighton and Hove Albion.
Via virtual press conference, the head coach had plenty to discuss as he prepares to take on the Seagulls at the Amex Stadium on Saturday evening.
Here’s what he had to say…
On team news...
“Everyone came through the week fit from last week, so it’s an unchanged squad going into the game.
“Wesley’s had some manipulation on his knee, which has certainly helped and he’ll be back on the training ground next week.”
On Brighton…
“They’ve been a little bit unfortunate to be in the position they’re in. I’m a believer in the expected goals ratio because it tells you about the performance levels, and they’ve been very high all season.
“I think Graham’s done a fantastic job coaching them, they look a really well-coached team with and without the ball. They press really well and make it hard for you to play out and in their build-up they’re very progressive on the ball.
“It will be a tough game for us. We actually played well in the game at Villa Park and I believe we shaded that game and should have probably won it.
“We had a disputed penalty decision in the last minute. Now it’s our chance to go to a team that’s playing with more confidence than they were at that time.”
On Villa’s position in the table…
“It’s a mere distraction at the moment as we’re only 21 games in. There’s a long way to go still and we haven’t played Everton or Tottenham in the league yet.
“There are games that we haven’t played because of COVID-19 this season, so it’s been a strange one but a good one in terms of our consistency.
“We’ve been a bit up and down over our last couple of performances – very good against Arsenal and not so good against West Ham.
“The performance against Arsenal is more of what we want to see from our players.”
On Graham Potter…
“Graham’s done a wonderful job at Brighton. We’re very similar in terms of our ideals on the game and very different in our pathways.
“He went abroad and did very well, came back to Swansea and now Brighton. He’s got them playing really good football.
“It’s a brave route. We don’t see too many British managers going and doing that. I’m sure the experiences he had have certainly helped him.”
On squad rotation…
“This football club won the league in 1980-81 with only 14 players playing 42 games. We don’t play as many games now, but it is a more congested fixture list.
“We’ve got a healthier squad to use. I’ve still not seen players carried from the pitch with exhaustion and I’ve not had too many of my players complaining.
“The performance team have been excellent, and our players will be the first to applaud them for the way they’ve got them up and ready for each game.”
