Dean Smith refusing to waver as pressure mounts at Aston Villa

Ahead of tonight’s trip to Southampton, the boss claimed staying true to his principles was key to reversing his team’s fortunes.

Villa head to St Mary’s on a run of four straight defeats which have raised the heat on Smith. But having found his way out of far more serious positions in the past, most notably when Villa sat seven points from safety with just four matches remaining during the 2019/20 season, the head coach is remaining calm and confident.

“It’s about being consistent and having a belief in what you are doing," he said. "You look at all the top managers – David Moyes is about to get to his 1,000th game, Alex Ferguson, Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho. All teams will have struggles.

“Jurgen Klopp last year lost four games on the spin. It happens. We are in an industry where results can go against you. But if you have the belief and consistency and a group of players who most importantly have the character and personality to believe as well, then you turn it around.

“There is no panic, we’re in control and determined to put things right. There has been a reaction from all the players because they are disappointed with the results.”

Asked if he felt it was time to press the reset button, Smith replied: “No, because then you are throwing away all of what you believe in, your principles of what you’re doing.

“Our job as coaches is to win football games. We work extremely hard to do that.

“Our principles will always be our principles. In the last couple of games, we’ve had a few decisions where the games have both been re-refereed by VAR and have been certainly pivotal in those games.”

Smith knows complaints about refereeing decisions will only gain limited sympathy from an increasingly worried fanbase. But there is unquestionably a sense of fortunes having conspired against Villa in recent weeks.

An early season which always threatened to be something of a rebuild following the summer exit of Jack Grealish has not been helped by a raft of injuries.

Smith has made an average of two changes to every starting XI through the first 10 Premier League fixtures, the majority of those enforced. Danny Ings, Douglas Luiz and Bertrand Traore will all be absent on the south coast tonight due to injury.

“I have a good idea of what my best team would be but we have not been able to field a full strength team all season,” said Smith.

“Our three new signings have all had stop-start experiences with their career here. Leon Bailey managed to get his first start at the end of October, which just shows you how tough it has been to get everyone through this period.

“It is is the same for other clubs. I saw Rafa Benitez say Everton are struggling with injuries at the moment. You have to deal with it.”