Dean Smith: I can handle the pressure at Aston Villa

A run of just two wins in 14 games, prior to today’s game at Stoke, has seen Smith come under scrutiny for the first time since replacing Steve Bruce last October.

But the 47-year-old, who left Brentford to manage his boyhood club, insists he feels neither any extra strain or expectation on his shoulders.

He explained: “At Brentford, my aim this year was to be promoted. Every game I went into I believed we would win.

“When we didn’t win I would feel it. I don’t feel it any more or less here. I think perhaps my family probably do.

“But I have been in the game for 30 years and I understand the nature of it and the margins that can turn a result from a win to a loss.”

Smith, who has not given up on making this season’s play-offs, is urging everyone at Villa to stick together as he looks to lay a blueprint for long-term success.

“Any football club, any business place, any workplace you go to, the word I always use is culture,” he said.

“I believe there is a good culture here but within that there has to be a togetherness of pushing in the same direction, because it is very difficult if you don’t do that.

“You can’t have individuals, you can’t have fragmentation of any sort. There has to be a togetherness to drive people forward. If you want to be successful, that is the key word.

“I think we have had it, but there are certainly things we can improve on as well.”