Dean Smith takes his Aston Villa squad to Burnley on Wednesday night for a Premier League clash at Turf Moor.
And ahead of the game, the head coach spoke to the media via video call to discuss a number of key topics.
Here’s what he had to say…
On Ollie Watkins…
“All goalscorers and centre-forwards will tell you they’re not that worried [about not scoring], but really they just want to score goals and Ollie is the same.
“His mentality has changed since he became a centre-forward at Brentford last season and his mentality is now about scoring goals.
“I’ve said it before that his work ethic has endeared him to all staff members and players here. Nobody was putting any pressure on him apart from himself.”
On Villa’s playing style…
“There are different ways to win football games – it’s not always about being gung ho and cavalier.
“It would have been very easy with the form that Newcastle were in to go with a very attacking system, but I just felt we needed to be solid as well, pick up second balls and play from there.
“We’ve got different ways that we can win games now, which is probably the most pleasing thing.
“We’ve got a good organisation and structure so that when players come in, they know their roles and can do a really good job.”
On Burnley…
“Burnley are a very resolute team, and they don’t concede many against anyone. They’ve had an unbelievable result against Liverpool, so it’s going to be a real tough game again.
“They’re pulling themselves away from the slow start they had. It’s going to another tough game for us.
“They defended resolutely [against Liverpool], and that’s what their success has been built on. They’ve always got that threat up front as well, with Chris Wood and Ashley Barnes.”
On Sean Dyche…
“He’s done brilliantly. You look at when he left Watford and went to Burnley, he got them promoted, relegated, promoted again and they’ve stayed there ever since.
“He’s continued to build at the football club. It’s a success story. They won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, in terms of their style, but they do what they have to do to be successful at their club.
“The supporters are fully behind them, and understandably so.”
