Dean Smith: Quick Aston Villa start was essential to win

Anwar El Ghazi’s fifth minute strike was enough to earn Villa a seventh away win in the Premier League, ending a two-match winless run.

Smith revealed he had stressed to his players the importance of getting out of the blocks quickly at Elland Road.

He said: “I wanted to start with an intensity. I didn’t feel we did that in our last two games against Brighton and Leicester. We have got a hard-fought victory.

“The players deserve enormous credit because they are a very good team and not many teams will restrict Leeds to so few chances we did tonight.

“I thought we got the tactics spot on. In the first 15 minutes we went and pressed them as high as we could and restricted the space.

“I think the back end of the first half we got a little bit stretched and they got a couple of chances. In the second half we sat in a low block, the players took responsibility and we restricted them to few chances.”

The win was the first Villa have achieved in the Premier League without captain Jack Grealish since winning promotion in 2019.

Grealish was missing for the second straight weekend with a shin injury and Smith said: “There was a lot made about us not winning a Premier League game without Jack but they were against Liverpool, Leicester and Wolves.

“They weren’t pygmy games. He will have been one of the first cheering that result. This season has been an all-round team performance.”

Goalkeeper Emi Martinez saved from Tyler Roberts during the first-half but his only other serious trouble, on route to a 13th Premier League clean sheet, was a tight groin which meant he was unable to take goal kicks in the closing stages.

Smith said: “Emi had a tight groin which meant our centre-halves had to take goal-kicks.

“I’ve been in that position and it is a tough gig getting those kicks up the pitch late on. All credit to them.”