Dean Smith believes Championship players could play for England after Gareth Southgate watches Aston Villa continue play-off charge

The Three Lions boss was at Villa Park on Saturday to see his former team beat Blackburn 2-1 to record their fifth straight win and go fifth in the table.

Southgate was there to cast his eye over the likes of Jack Grealish and Chelsea loanee Tammy Abraham, who is currently part of the England under-21 set-up.

Smith said: “Gareth has got a strong association with this football club and he is doing a terrific job at the moment.

“We’re really pleased he came to see us and he would have been pleased to see how we played in the first half especially.

“We’ve got some bright young players. He’s got Tammy from the under-21s and Jack, as I’ve said before, is probably one of the best players in this league.

“Hopefully he went away with some thoughts on some of the players we’ve got here.”

Southgate, when questioned about Grealish during the recent international break, admitted it was tougher to assess the quality of players in the Championship compared to those in the Premier League.

But Smith believes that does not automatically rule out his players. He said: “Some years ago there was Steve Bull from Division Three.

“If the talent is drying up in the Premier League, then Gareth has to look elsewhere.

“Let’s not forget the likes of Jack and Tammy have played in the Premier League, so they have proven themselves in that already. And they are two of the standouts in this league.

“The fact Gareth was here says a hell of a lot. Only he can tell you because he’s in a job that’s very tough and he knows the pool of players he’s got to look at.

“But the fact that he was here today will certainly give our English players a boost.

“I’m sure he will be sending some of his scouts here to watch games. Listen, they know all about them anyway and it just gives Gareth the chance to come and cast his own eyes on it.”

Grealish, whose return from injury last month helped spark Villa’s resurgence, was perhaps a little off his best.

But Smith said: “I thought he was really good in first-half. Good, but perhaps not as good as he has been overall, but I think that was because it was more of a team performance.

“He was tired at the end. He got a dead leg against Middlesbrough two weeks ago and he was having a bit of treatment on that over the last couple of weeks. He was carrying it a little bit.”