Southampton v Aston Villa: Dean Smith's men need a ruthless streak with Saints next on agenda

Rare have been the times in recent months when Dean Smith has been moved to criticise his players in the manner seen after Wednesday’s 3-2 defeat at Burnley.

Yet his words at Turf Moor were nothing compared to the tongue-lashing dished out after last February’s 2-0 defeat at Southampton.

“It’s not about me, it’s about them,” barked Smith, in arguably the fieriest post-match press conference of his managerial career, before going on to claim he possessed too many “training ground players”.

At that point Villa looked a team hurtling toward the Championship and their transformation since has been little short of remarkable.

Even so, there remains a nagging sense they might have made even more progress. Wednesday’s defeat wasn’t the first time this season Villa have paid a high price for not taking their chances. In that regard, it was comparable to November’s 2-1 defeat at West Ham, another match where they ended up empty-handed despite dominating.

The statistics would appear to back up the theory that Villa, while hardly goal-shy, should be scoring more. Only Manchester City have created more chances this season and they have played a game more.

Smith, however, preferred to see the Burnley defeat as a one-off frustration more than a general theme.

“I think we have a ruthless streak,” he said, when asked whether his team needed to be more clinical.

“You don’t go and win nine games out of 18 in the Premier League if you don’t have one.

“I have no complaints about the performances this season. But with the quality we have got we should have been more than one goal up at Burnley.

“With the quality we have got at the back we should be defending set pieces and crosses better than we did.

“I can’t say I have been disappointed with the players too often this season but I was certainly disappointed on Wednesday.

“We should have been coming back to Birmingham with a win and the main emotion was disbelief.”

The latter was also the main feeling after Villa’s 4-3 home defeat to Southampton back in November, which even allowing for Wednesday’s events must surely rank among their strangest matches of the season.

Four goals down after an hour, Villa might have snatched a point had the match gone on for a couple of minutes longer. Ultimately, they paid the price for some basic errors and giving the visitors’ free-kick specialist James Ward-Prowse two opportunities in the first-half, both of which he took.

Meetings against the Saints have tended to spell trouble for Villa since they returned to the Premier League. The first clash at Villa Park last season ended in a 3-1 defeat and saw John McGinn suffer a fractured ankle.

Tomorrow night’s match is between two teams looking to bolster their top six ambitions and move on from some sketchy recent form.

The Saints have won just one of their last seven, while Villa have only victory one in five, albeit their performances have been worthy of better.

A win for Smith’s team, who sit above the hosts on goal difference but having played two matches fewer, would restore some momentum heading into another busy week which sees them host two more top-six pretenders in the shape of West Ham and Arsenal.

Both have hit form over recent weeks but there is still plenty of time for Villa, who will hit the midway point of their campaign when the final whistle blows at St Mary’s, to make up the ground.

Kortney Hause remains sidelined with a foot injury, while new signing Morgan Sanson could feature for the first time following his £14million move from Marseille.

Smith, who has kept a relatively consistent first XI, will assess fitness levels before deciding whether to make any significant changes for what is Villa’s fourth match in 11 days since resuming their season, following the coronavirus outbreak at Bodymoor Heath.