Dean Smith read the riot act to Aston Villa players
Dean Smith has warned Saturday’s dismal defeat at Watford must be a ‘line in the sand’ for Villa as they look to halt their alarming slide.
The 3-0 reverse at Vicarage Road was Villa’s fifth in six Premier League matches and ensured they will finish the year rooted in the bottom three.
The typically cool-headed Smith admitted to having read ‘the riot act’ to his players when they trailed 1-0 at the break to Troy Deeney’s opener.
But they went on to concede twice more in the second half, with both goals coming after the home side had been reduced to 10 men when Adrian Mariappa was sent-off.
Villa now head to Burnley on New Year’s Day with Smith, who is under mounting pressure, admitting everyone must improve.
He said: “Hopefully this is a line in the sand for players to start stepping up and performing as they were earlier in the season.
“That was not good enough on Saturday for sure, certainly the first-half.
“The second half was packed with incident and they have scored two goals I am very, very annoyed about. But as players and as a manager we have got to be better than that.”
Villa are likely to be without Matt Targett for the trip to Turf Moor after the left-back suffered a hamstring injury in the second half at Watford.
It proved to be a key moment in the match, with the home side playing on while Targett lay on the ground and winning the penalty from which Deeney doubled their advantage.
