Dean Smith has praised his Aston Villa squad for keeping the faith during a testing start to the season.
A new-look squad and backroom staff managed one win from the opening four Premier League games, picking up four points.
But impressive victories against Everton and Manchester United have catapulted Smith’s team up the table to eighth spot, leaving the head coach to reflect on his squad’s start to the league campaign during a wide-ranging interview with VillaTV.
He said: “We didn’t get too down when things weren’t quite happening. We had a bad 45 minutes at Watford, and we responded to that in the second half of the game and could have got something out of it in the end.
“We picked ourselves up, we trusted the process and continued to do what we needed to do. On paper, everyone expected us to win our first three games because it was two teams who’d just been promoted and Newcastle, who had struggled a bit last season. Football doesn’t work like that.
“We had a number of issues, but I was really pleased with how we adapted to what had happened and we never lost faith in what we were or what we wanted to do.
“There’s going to be ups and downs throughout the season, but as long as we trust the process, that’ll bear fruit throughout the season.”
Smith’s side will be looking to make it three wins on the bounce when they travel to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
The Londoners were the early pacesetters, winning their first three matches, but have since slid down the table with a string of defeats, and Smith is expecting a response from Spurs.
He said: “They started the season really well and then they’ve had three defeats on the spin, with a big defeat in the derby against Arsenal.
“They’ll be smarting and I expect a really fired-up team to come out against us. They’ll have to do that at home with their supporters.
“We have to concentrate on ourselves. We know there’s going to be a fiery start from them because they want to prove how good they are, but we also want to continue the progress we’re making.”
Watch the full interview with Smith below...
