Dean Smith salutes Aston Villa 'professional' performance

Jonathan Kodjia netted twice on his first start of the season, as the hosts eventually cruised to a 5-0 victory over the youngest ever XI fielded by the Reds.

The Ivory Coast international’s goals came after Conor Hourihane’s free-kick and a Morgan Boyes own goal had put Villa two up, with record buy Wesley then coming off the bench to complete the scoring with virtually the last kick of the night.

Liverpool’s youngsters were thrown into the fray due to the first-team’s involvement in the Club World Cup and after praising the attitude shown by his own players, Smith admitted it had been a “weird” occasion.

“It was a bit of a no-win situation for us,” he said. “If you win then everyone expected you to. If you don’t it is an absolute disaster.

“The word I used for the players was attitude and I thought we did a good, professional job.

“Orjan Nyland made some saves but that is what I expect goalkeepers to do.

“There was a weird feel about the game, it wasn’t like it was a quarter-final. But it is what it is.

“Yes, we would love to have been playing Villa’s first-team but they had other things to do.”

Smith also named a much-changed line-up, handing James Chester his first start since January. Villa will find out their semi-final opponents when the draw takes place tonight.

“There were a really good number of positives,” said Smith. “James has not had much game time at all so it was great to see him get 75 minutes.

“He got a great reception from the supporters when he came off. I thought he showed calmness and leadership that perhaps sometimes we have missed.”

With Liverpool’s first-team in Qatar ahead of tonight’s World Club Cup semi-final, the Reds XI had an average age of 19.

But the youngsters gave a more than acceptable account of themselves, with Villa goalkeeper Nyland forced into several fine saves.

Smith and assistant boss John Terry both visited the Liverpool dressing room after the match to congratulate the visiting players on their performance.

Under-23s boss Neil Critchley, who took charge of the visiting team on the night, said: “For them to come into the dressing room was a special moment. That will live with us for a long time.”

Smith said: “They have a really talented group of young players, who made it difficult for us.”