Dean Smith: Aston Villa survival mission not complete yet
Dean Smith warned Villa their survival mission is not finished yet after victory over Arsenal saw them clamber out of the relegation zone.
Trezeguet’s third goal in as many matches was enough to earn a 1-0 win over the Gunners and set up a nail-biting finale to the season at West Ham on Sunday.
Villa, out of the bottom three on goal difference, are now in pole position to pull off an escape act which looked close to impossible less than a fortnight ago.
Smith’s men have taken seven points from their last three matches to overtake Watford, who were thumped 4-0 at home by Manchester City.
The Hornets travel to Arsenal on Sunday, while Bournemouth, who visit Everton, are also not out of the running.
The win was the 150th of Smith’s managerial career but his celebrations at full-time were muted.
He said: “There is still one game to go. It is similar to after the penalty shoot out at Albion in the play-off semi-final last season.
“All we have done is put it in our own hands and we still have to go and put in a similar performance at Arsenal.
“If we can do that, we will retain our Premier League status.
“It was a great performance but an even better result, against a really good team who are just off the back of beating two of the best teams in Europe.
“I thought it was a real team performance. We kept them at bay for long periods.”
Villa got a big performance from skipper Jack Grealish. The skipper, who has been linked with a summer move away, was asked if he may have played his last game for the club at Villa Park.
Grealish replied: "I’m not too sure. I have one aim and that's to keep this club in the Premier League and where this whole stadium, this whole club and fanbase knows where we belong.
"So that's all I'm thinking about at the moment.
“I think it was deserved. I thought we were outstanding, everything about us, our game management, our defensive display, the way we counter-attacked.
“The only problem was we could have got another goal. But we will take a 1-0 win against a brilliant team like Arsenal. We all saw what they did to Manchester City at the weekend so it is a great win for us.
“It was a tense day but all we can do is focus on ourselves. Nothing is done yet. We have a massive game now at West Ham.”
