Aston Villa v Ipswich: Dean Smith demanding defensive solidity
Dean Smith has called on Villa to turn up the heat on Ipswich and end a two-month wait for a home win tomorrow.
Villa host the Championship’s bottom club, who are managed by former boss Paul Lambert, hunting their first victory in B6 since the 4-2 derby triumph over Blues on November 26.
The following five home games have delivered four entertaining draws and one heartbreaking, last-gasp defeat to Leeds.
It has added up to an overall run of just two wins in 10 which has seen Villa slip seven points behind the top six.
Smith now wants his players to repeat the second half performance which saw them fight back to draw with Hull last weekend.
The boss is particularly keen for them to cut out the silly mistakes which has frequently left them facing an uphill battle, particularly on their own turf.
Villa have conceded at least two or more goals for the last six home league games. Smith said: “We turned the intensity up in the second half against Hull City and were frustrated at being behind. Unfortunately that’s been our Achilles heel.
“Lots of teams have counter-attacked us or capitalised on errors and we’ve fallen behind.
“We worked an awful lot on transitions this week because that is one of the big things our opponents have clearly worked on.
“Certainly at Villa Park, we have a lot of the ball and a lot of chances. But we’ve been making mistakes of our own.
“We need to stop giving soft goals away. If we can do that, then we can certainly go on a run.”
Plenty of focus will fall on the return of Lambert to Villa Park for the first time since he was axed as the club’s manager in February 2015.
Yet the Scot, who is battling to keep a second successive relegation off his CV having been in charge of Stoke when they went down from the Premier League last term, is far from the only familiar face in the opposition for Smith.
Alan Judge and Callum Elder, both of whom he managed at Brentford, are regulars in an Ipswich team who sit seven points adrift of safety and have lost their last five away games without scoring a goal.
Then there is James Collins, who but for an unfortunate calf injury might well have been in Villa colours.
The Wales international spent several months training at Bodymoor Heath earlier in the season and was offered a short-term deal by Smith for the festive period.
Collins had actually signed on the dotted line, before getting injured in the next training session.
He explained: “When I signed the short-term deal with Villa, I felt my calf go in the first training session. I’m not the type of player to take the money. So I thought it was the right thing to do, as I could’ve been out for four or five weeks.”
Jack Grealish, Axel Tuanzebe and Henri Lansbury remain Villa’s long-term injury absentees.
Midfielder Mile Jedinak, who has trained for the past two weeks, could see competitive action for the first time since September.
Likely line-up:
Subs: Elmohamady, Hause, Adomah, Jedinak, Kodjia, Davis, Steer (gk).
Ipswich (4-4-2): Gerken, Pennington, Chambers, Collins, Elder, Judge, Chalobah, Skuse, Sears, Quaner, Keane.
