Dean Smith tells Aston Villa to cut out the errors
Dean Smith has warned Villa must start cutting out the silly mistakes that are harming their Premier League survival fight.
Villa, who sit just a point above the drop zone, have the top flight’s leakiest defence having conceded 50 times in just 26 matches.
Ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Southampton, boss Smith has called for a renewed focus on eradicating the errors which have been so costly to their campaign.
“The fact remains our personnel has made too many errors,” he said. “We have made individual mistakes a hell of a lot.
“You get punished at this level. That is what the players have been learning and focusing on in training. We have a very attack-minded group and we have been working with them to be more responsible without the ball.”
Villa head to Southampton looking to move on from an encouraging performance yet gut-wrenching result against Tottenham last weekend, when an error by Bjorn Engels deep into stoppage time allowed Son Heung-min to steal victory for their opponents.
“We know what we have to get better at. Unfortunately, we’ve made a lot of errors that have led to goals and we’ve been punished by mistakes,” continued Smith.
“Our focus and concentration has got better as the season has gone on, but it needs to improve for the last 13 games, all of which will be cup finals for us.”
Tyrone Mings is set to return after missing the Spurs defeat due to a bout of tonsillitis, but striker Keinan Davis (hamstring) remains out.
