Dean Smith spoke to the media on Thursday morning, addressing journalists via video call from Bodymoor Heath.
The Aston Villa Head Coach spoke about the team’s current run of form, the absence of fans from a local derby and Saturday’s opponents Wolves.
Here’s what he had to say…
On recent results...
Football’s based on performances and if you perform, you’ve got more chance of winning. We’ve performed very well this season, with the exception of Leeds.
All the other games that we’ve played and been beaten in, our performance levels have been good. We’ve had some freak goals against us.
In the last two games against Brighton and West Ham, we certainly deserved more with the performances we produced. Three games ago we beat Arsenal 3-0, so we’re not doing a lot wrong at the moment.
On the occasion...
It’s a game against a team that we’re well aware of because of the distance, but having no fans there takes the juice away from a local derby.
I’m sure it will be the same in a few weeks against West Bromwich Albion as well. Unfortunately, not having supporters there is what takes the enjoyment out of these local derbies.
There’s no feel for it when you get to the ground. There are no supporters greeting you when you get off the coach or going out to the pitch. It’s different. It loses that spice.
On Wolves...
They’re one of the teams in the league that are tough to beat. You look at their last few seasons in this league and they’ve been the team that all promoted sides are trying to emulate.
They’ve lost some big players with Jota going to Liverpool and Raul Jimenez with the unfortunate head injury. They’re still a very good team with some very good players.
It’s always a concern that a team who very rarely gets beat by that margin will be smarting and looking forward to this game to put things right.
